Printer Friendly

Getting Started

Where to get the seeds and beans.

First, choose seeds that were meant to be eaten. Seeds from garden shops are often treated with fungicides. The best choice is organically grown seeds designed for sprouting, but these are often hard to find and expensive. Health food stores carry many viable candidates in the bulk bins--alfalfa, wheat, garbanzos and other beans--and you can even try supermarket beans if you're diligent about culling the duds. Mung, lentil and azuki are easy to find and easy to sprout.

The container.

Almost anything will do, provided it is not wooden or metallic and is large enough not to crowd the seeds. Try shallow, wide china or enamel ware, plastic containers, terra cotta flower pots, colanders or bamboo baskets. Leafy lettuce-type sprouts--alfalfa, clover, daikon, cabbage, buckwheat--are often grown vertically, like grass; for beans you can also use cloth or plastic bags.

The principles.

The main factors for successful sprouting are moisture, temperature and air circulation. Keep the seeds moist, but never sitting in water. Rinse them off regularly to prevent rotting, and keep air circulating around them to prevent mold. A warm climate speeds up growth, but in Hawai'i the challenge is to keep the seeds cool and free of rot. A temperature in the 70s is best.

Light.

Bean sprouts can be grown in the dark--Chinese cooks strive for the super-white mung sprout--whereas leafy sprouts benefit from a little light the last day before harvest. Put them near a window with indirect sun for three to 12 hours. Sunlight develops chlorophyll, which makes leaves green, helps build blood, stimulates tissue growth and sweetens the breath.

Quantity.

Two tablespoons of seed (about one ounce) will produce one cup of mature sprouts. A quarter cup of small beans or grains will make one to three cups of sprouts, depending on how long they're grown.