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Sprouts~the world's youngest, squiggliest greens~are forever linked to hippies and crunchy health food. Not that healthy food, or hippies, are anything but good, but Sprouts deserve a much broader culinary use. There isn't a green that's fresher tasting, more local, cheaper, faster or easier to grow. When most of our gardens are still hibernating during this winter's deep freeze, Alfalfa Sprouts put a fresh green crunch into salads and sandwiches. Mung Bean Sprouts, an Asian pantry staple for thousands of years, are essential in all kinds of astounding recipes, from stir-fries and spring rolls to soups and side dishes.

  Sprouts do deserve their reputation as nutritional powerhouses. They're packed with vitamins A, C and E, iron, potassium and amino acids. Just a couple of tablespoons of seeds per week will produce as many Sprouts as you can possibly eat.
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Do Try This at Home, Kids
Keeping the family in Sprouts is a great job for the kids. Soak the seeds each Sunday and you'll have a fresh week's worth of Sprouts by Friday. Kids or not, the process of seed sprouting is easy. And it goes like this: Rinse. Soak. Drain. Rinse. Drain. Rinse. Drain. Rinse. Drain. Rinse. Drain. Eat. Repeat. It really is that easy, but to ensure your success, here are some detailed instructions.
There are many commercial sprouters out there, but the old "jar" method works just fine. You can fit mason jars with a special screen or simply use cheese cloth or screening stretched and held in place over the jar mouth with an elastic. 

  Measure out the appropriate amount of seed to sprout (if you have a sprouter follow the directions that came with it, if using the jar method add enough seed to just cover the bottom of the jar). Clean, cull (throw out non seeds) and rinse seeds with tepid water before soaking. To soak, add tepid non-chlorinated water, (3 parts water to 1 part seed) and let soak for the appropriate amount of time for the seed you are sprouting. Discard any non-seed material that floats up. After soaking, drain out the water: the seed should be damp but not wet. Put the jar out of direct sunlight which could cook the seeds. Every 8 to 12 hours add enough water to cover the seeds and swish around to get all the seeds wet. Drain the water out, leaving the seeds damp but not wet. 
All Sprouts need good air circulation, and a consistent 70F temperature for optimum sprouting. Cooler temperatures retard sprouting and warmer temperatures push too hard. Most sprouting seeds do not need light in the early sprouting stages but for the last two days before sprout use, Alfalfa Sprouts should have some diffused light so they can green up a bit. Check each variety for the approximate days to harvest.

  For the final rinsing, fill the entire sprouting container with water. With some agitation, most of the Sprouts will shed their hulls or seed coats during this final rinsing for skimming off. Thoroughly drain the sprouts for 6 to 8 hours prior to refrigerating them. Store Sprouts dry to the touch in airtight containers. Sterilize your sprouter between crops: mix a capful of bleach to a pint of water, soak for 15 to 20 minutes, scrub well and rinse thoroughly!


Mung Bean, Alfalfa and Beyond
Crunchy, hefty Mung Beans are far and away the most popular Sprout on Earth. They're the best Sprouts for cooking since they hold their own when combined with other vegetables, herbs and spices. The flavor of delicate, thread-like Alfalfa Sprouts is milder with a slightly nutty flavor, yet with a nice crisp texture. 
  But don't stop with Mung Beans and Alfalfa. Although they are not included in our Sprout section, you will also be delighted with the sprouts of more zesty seeds like Arugula, Black Turtle Beans, Broccoli, Onions, Peas, Radishes and Cress. These flavorful, tangy Sprouts are an amazing addition to baby leaf salads and as haute cuisine garnishes strewn atop special main dishes. Just reserve a few seeds of each for growing these crops in your garden, too!
Traditional Sprouting Seeds
Days to harvest: 3 to 10. Mung Bean sprouts are fat, crunchy and tender. Perfect in salads or for added crunch in sandwiches, Mung sprouts are the sprout-of-choice for Asian stir-fries since they hold up to a bit of quick heat. Faster to sprout yet longer to develop than Alfalfa seeds, Mung Beans may be harvested incrementally: you decide how large you want these crisp-tender shoots to grow. (OP.)
Days to harvest: 5 to 6. Really easy to grow, this dainty, mild-flavored sprout lends a wispy, almost-crunchy healthy bite to salads and sandwiches. A bit too delicate for cooking, Alfalfa seeds are slower to sprout yet harvest more quickly than Mung Beans. Make sure to try Hold the Pickles' recipe for the Popeye and Olive Oil Sandwich with Alfalfa Sprouts, Spinach, red Onion and Tomatoes. (OP.)
Seeds for Sprouting and Garden Harvest
Broccoli is best enjoyed raw, steamed, stir-fried or roasted to reap the benefits of its Vitamin C, dietary fiber and anti-cancer properties. Any way but boiled.
These beans are small and have a shiny, jet-black coat with lavish cream-colored flesh that imparts a soft, yet strong, earthy flavor with a hint of mushroom.
Radishes can be sown outdoors as soon as the soil can be worked, or indoors for sprouts. All our Radishes are open-pollinated and each is unique.
Memories of eating Peas from the vine has no doubt led many of us down the garden path with our watering can. They make wonderful sprouts, too!
Our Brown Mustard Seed is very pungent, the type used as the base for the more spicy and biting European Mustards like Dijon or even Indian Mustards. 
Its stimulating, tangy taste is perfect in mixed garden salads with softer-flavored greens, in sandwiches, and as homegrown sprouts. 
An Onion a day keeps the doctor away! They have antioxidant, anticancer, anti-cholestrol and anti-inflammatory properties and are an essential ingredient in savory recipes. 
Cress is enjoying new popularity among the multitude of new salad greens, and as a spouting green! New varieties offer larger leaves, various levels of bite and rapid growth. 
Cabbage is as nutritionally rich as it is versatile; enjoy it in Cabbage rolls, Basque Cabbage soup with white beans and sausage, coleslaw or sauerkraut. Its sprouts are delicious!
We share our best-of-the-best  recipes  in our online cookbook so you can feed your family and friends well without feeling frenzied, and practical, hands-on  Horticultural Tips  to demystify gardening with seeds. It's not tricky or difficult: it's more like easy magic.
 
If you need help with anything, our office hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. You can email us at  customerservice@kitchengardenseeds.com  or call us at (860) 567-6086. Lance Frazon, our seed specialist, is happy to help you in any way possible. He loves to talk seeds.
 
-To see our seed collection click:  Flowers , gourmet Fruits & Vegetables  and aromatic  Herbs .
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-Call us at (860) 567-6086: We will help you in any way we can!

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