Sprout a little vitality to welcome spring KAREN KISSLINGER
March 4, 2007

When processed food started to be popular in the "modern" era of the early 20th century, long shelf life was considered a plus. Now we know one reason foods can sit on a shelf for a long time and not spoil is that they don't have much nutritive value -they are not vital at supporting life. On the other hand, a jar of seeds (beans, grains, nuts, etc.) can sit well-preserved for hundreds of years, and then when moistened swell and grow into some of the most vital and nutritious foods available to humans: sprouts.

Sprouts are baby plants, and baby plants are designed to have their own internal "milk" supply (i.e. All the wonderful nutrients they need for a while) until they get their roots firmly settled into the earth. So when you sprout seeds such as wheat, oats, aduki beans, lentils, alfalfa, red clover or dozens of others, the swelling seed knows just how to kick in to produce lots of vitamins and enzymes that offer you remarkable living foods - grown right in your own kitchen.

In the summertime, it is possible for many of us to grow vegetables right in our back yards and eat them freshly picked, still alive and full of active vitamins and enzymes, the optimal way to eat them. When my children were tiny, I used to hand them a fresh sweet pea or bean from the garden to eat and say to them "Here ... life to life!"

As winter grinds on, as we see ever more clearly that the source of our vegetables is far from our own back yards - thousands of miles in most cases - we may instinctively feel the need for greater vitality in our food. Like the promise of spring and renewal suggested in swelling buds, sprouts offer us the hope and the immediate reality of being able to eat remarkably nutritious superfoods, grown inexpensively in our own kitchens or cellars. That's as local as it gets. They can be eaten raw and are inexpensive to grow -taking only a few days from start to finish, in most cases.

Though there are expensive sprouting apparatus to buy, most people can get started with some nice clean jars or trays, some cheesecloth (or muslin), rubberbands to hold the cloth over the jar mouth, and a few minutes of time for rinsing your sprouts each day. I do it first thing in the morning when I'm preparing breakfast and it really does only add a couple of minutes of extra work.

The sprouts I've listed as my favorites below can all be grown in jars.

Wash and soak each for the recommended amount of time, usually overnight. Directions for growing them in trays are easy to find in books and online. Then rinse and drain them and distribute them along the bottom of a quart-size canning jar that has been laid on its side. Place a muslin cap over the end of the jar using a rubber band to hold the material around the jar lid. Rinse your sprouts two times each day until they are grown to the size you want. If you forget to rinse them and they "go bad" just throw them away and don't try to salvage them. You'll get in the habit of rinsing -and then you'll be in the sprouting habit.

For sprouts such as clover, alfalfa and lentils, leaving them in a sunny window for five or six hours after they've reached full size will allow the chlorophyll to develop and they will green up. After that they should be refrigerated while you use them. Then you can enjoy them plain, in salads or added to any number of dishes. The Web site www.sproutpeo ple.com has an amusing editorial stressing that sprout enthusiasts, particularly those who write about sprouting, tend to be too "dogmatic" and say there is only one way to sprout. The comment suggests there are many ways to sprout -and that experimentation is fun and productive because "seeds want to sprout." I agree, and suggest you go ahead and play around and see what works best for you.

In addition to growing sprouts such as lentil, red clover, alfalfa and wheat, I plant my wheat sprouts in a shallow layer of potting soil and enjoy the wheat grass that grows at a rapid rate over the next few days. I cover them with a light damp cloth for one day after planting to keep them moist while the root takes hold. Wheat grass is widely considered a nutritional superfood, offering an array of minerals, vitamins and enzymes. It is extremely sweet and truly delicious, and really easy to grow. If you or your children are looking for a really healthy snack treat, this may be one to try.

As with all produce, when purchasing seeds for sprouting, try to acquire those grown organically, and be careful not to use seeds meant for gardening. Even if, and especially if, they were organic and untreated, they would present an extremely expensive way to acquire sprouting seeds. Most health food stores and co-ops have bins of seeds, grains and beans to buy in bulk.


You will soak and then wash your sprouts until they are ready. Here ... life to life!

Karen Kisslinger has been practicing traditional Chinese acupuncture for more than 20 years and has a practice in Millerton. She also conducts workshops about relaxation, meditation and whole foods cooking. Contact her c/o Healthy Living, Poughkeepsie Journal, P.O. Box 1231, Poughkeepsie, NY 12602.


Blissed be, Annie