Getting ready for first winter with Indian runners

[JadeComputerGal]

First thoughts:

In winter, a few tablespoons of good quality dry cat kibble for the flock of ten, a few times a week since they cannot get worms out of the frozen ground.

When I am on my game, I keep a set of sprouting wheat going.


The bottoms have small holds drilled in them so they drain. Water the top twice a day. After three or four days they sprout, then start to green up as grass.
Research has shown they actually decrease in the standard "nutrient values" commercial farms look at, but in winter, my duckies LOVE THEM.

I love this idea! Would you mind posting exactly how you do it? Not sure if I could get some starter from my feed store since it's not a big one. Maybe it can be ordered online? Do you ever do multiple grains?

 

[Amiga]

I started out just putting a quarter cup of wheat seeds in a pie plate and rinsing them. That's fairly easy, though in my little kitchen and with my tendency to clutter, finding the horizontal space can be a challenge.

 

[Amiga]

I got some food safe containers with lids, trimmed openings in the lids (they look like Bs or 8s), and drilled, oh, 1/8 inch holes - about 40 of them - evenly around the bottoms of the containers. I left two containers whole, but with opened lids. I put a quarter to a half cup of wheat seeds in a jar, rinse with hot water, pour that off, then soak in lukewarm water overnight. Next day, I pour off the water and put the seeds into a sprouting container described above. I set that on the lid of the solid container to catch drips. When I have it together, that evening I prep another jar of seeds, so that I end up stacking five or six - a week's worth - by the time the last one is going into the sprouting container, the first one is ready to serve. Stacked up like that, they don't take up that precious horizontal space.

At serving time, I rinse the sprouts very thoroughly. Some folks recommend rinsing them with some hydrogen peroxide because they are worried about bacteria. We have not had problems with that. Others report they occasionally get mold, but we have not had problems with that, either (I think the initial rinse with very hot water helps).

There are Youtube videos and blogs about this process - all kinds of ways to do it.

So far I have only done it with wheat. But I have seen reference to sprouting many things - several BYC folks sprout black oil sunflower seed.

I get organic wheat in bulk - it works out less expensive than frozen peas. And I don't need to take up freezer space. I am always looking for ways to do things without needing a freezer.

 

[JadeComputerGal]

I started out just putting a quarter cup of wheat seeds in a pie plate and rinsing them. That's fairly easy, though in my little kitchen and with my tendency to clutter, finding the horizontal space can be a challenge.

I really apologize for being so dumb about this, but are these seeds something I could get from some feed stores? I'm not sure about the small one next to our house, but we have an Agway a few miles away. I could check with them.

 

[JadeComputerGal]

I got some food safe containers with lids, trimmed openings in the lids (they look like Bs or 8s), and drilled, oh, 1/8 inch holes - about 40 of them - evenly around the bottoms of the containers. I left two containers whole, but with opened lids. I put a quarter to a half cup of wheat seeds in a jar, rinse with hot water, pour that off, then soak in lukewarm water overnight. Next day, I pour off the water and put the seeds into a sprouting container described above. I set that on the lid of the solid container to catch drips. When I have it together, that evening I prep another jar of seeds, so that I end up stacking five or six - a week's worth - by the time the last one is going into the sprouting container, the first one is ready to serve. Stacked up like that, they don't take up that precious horizontal space.

At serving time, I rinse the sprouts very thoroughly. Some folks recommend rinsing them with some hydrogen peroxide because they are worried about bacteria. We have not had problems with that. Others report they occasionally get mold, but we have not had problems with that, either (I think the initial rinse with very hot water helps).

There are Youtube videos and blogs about this process - all kinds of ways to do it.

So far I have only done it with wheat. But I have seen reference to sprouting many things - several BYC folks sprout black oil sunflower seed.

I get organic wheat in bulk - it works out less expensive than frozen peas. And I don't need to take up freezer space. I am always looking for ways to do things without needing a freezer.

Great info! I was doing my last post while you were doing this one. I'm going to look into doing this and check around to see where I can find some seeds.

Thanks!

 

[Amiga]

I want to emphasize once the seeds are in the sprouting containers I rinse them twice a day (okay, sometimes I lose track and rinse once). I water the top container, the water runs through all of them, and I dump the water that collects in the bottom container. This requires a second collector container, by the way.

 

[JadeComputerGal]

I want to emphasize once the seeds are in the sprouting containers I rinse them twice a day (okay, sometimes I lose track and rinse once). I water the top container, the water runs through all of them, and I dump the water that collects in the bottom container. This requires a second collector container, by the way.

Okay, but we do have a good bit of room. Are you emphasizing that because of making sure they're kept watered to keep them growing or to eliminate contaminants, or both?

LOL. Now you're kind of freaking me out.

 

[Amiga]

I am just admitting I forgot to include the watering twice a day in post number 13….

 

[JadeComputerGal]

I am just admitting I forgot to include the watering twice a day in post number 13….

Ah. LOL. I had just combined that in my mind because you'd mentioned that part earlier in post #9.

 

[Amiga]

Anyone else notice I may not be firing on all cylinders tonight?