Sprouts to supplement feed (how-to with pics)

[mpguay]

Sprouted grains, legumes and seeds are thought to be more digestible and more nutritional than dried grains, legumes and seeds.
You can't trust all the literature out there, but do a search and you will see a predominance of advantages to eating sprouts.
And wouldn't you rather eat hydrated fesh LIVE food than powdered feed all day?

I started to do this for my hens during the winter so they would have some greens. They absolutely love it. Now I do it every day. And its great on my salads!

Here is how I do it.

Briefly:
put 1/4 - 1/2 cup of seeds, grains, and/or legumes in a quart mason jar, fill with water and soak about 12 hours.
Drain the water and rinse 2-3 times a day for the next 3-4 days. Done.

Specifics:

Get a quart mason jar with a lid that has the insert. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup seeds, legumes, grains such as:

sunflower seeds
bird seed
any leftover seeds from gardening packets
(flax seed doesnt work well)
mung beans (these get BIG only use 1/4 cup)
lentils
red adzuki beans
black eyed peas
hard red wheat
barley
rice
quinoa
.......etc


You can get these anywhere from your feed and seed store to Whole Foods.

Put 1/4 to 1/2 cup seeds in the jar and fill with water.




Put a 6" square nylon screen (from any hardware store) on top and then screw cap on. Rinse and fill again to soak overnight.

12 hours or more later, rinse the beans through the screen a couple times.
Then drain all water out and put it on its side, so the seeds have more surface area to grow.



Rinse right through the screen. The jar you see has 1/4 cup mung beans in it. the one on the counter has a 1/4 mix of Adzuki, hard red wheat, mung, black eyed peas and lentils. So day 2 you start rinsing. You may see the seeds swelling and even sprouting now. I leave my jars by the sink and rinse 2-3 times a day.



Above is day 3. they have expanded and started to grow and fill the jars to 3/4. Keep rinsing.




This is about day 3 1/2. The mung beans on the right are busting out. You have to tease them out with a fork. Here you see the mung bean sprouts out of the jar.
I will keep rinsing the jar on the left and use tomorrow.

Mary

 

[HazelandPearl]

Going to try this this weekend!!

 

[glib]

the real question is whether fermentation beats sprouting, or the other way around. my guess is that sprouts have less toxicity, and probably similar protein, mineral and vitamin availability (when at peak enzymes, which usually happens when the tail is about as long as the seed). my guess is also that sprouting and fermenting together is not significantly better than sprouting alone, because either method makes most minerals and proteins available, while producing more than enough B vitamins.

 

[HazelandPearl]

I keep getting mold in my Ferment so I was hoping sprouting may help. My girls free range in my small backyard most of the day I just like playing around with new things