Fenugreek and red cabbage sprouts success

Maybe it's a little too soon to be doing the happy dance but for this second do-it-yourself attempt, growing sprouts (germogli/jehr-MOH-l'yee in italian), was ridiculously easy. So easy, in fact, that I've got it in mind to try whatever's out on the market, starting with the Geo brand by Bavicchi seeds.

The process for sprouting basically reads all the same from the internet to the back of the packaging itself, but I must make mention of the website Sprout People (http://sproutpeople.org) for going into such detail regarding text and images in coaching first-time growers. I only wish they could ship overseas (and pass through customs) because the prices on their website makes my seeds look like iranian caviar. Until I can source a bulk supplier, buying the packets is costing me approximately $31/lb for fenugreek seeds and a whopping $89/lb for red cabbage seeds.

On with the show... After soaking the seeds overnight, I drained them the next day and placed them in their respective containers: the box from the mushroom kit for the fenugreek and a 2 quart glass jar for the red cabbage. I rinsed and thoroughly drained them once in the morning and once in the evening, giving it a 3rd rinse only if I felt that the room was too warm.

Red cabbage seeds after soaking overnight.

Sprouts on the 4th day. Package directions state 4-6 days so I left them for 1 more day. A paper towel secured with a rubberband is used to close the mouth of the jar, allowing the sprouts to breathe.

Red cabbage sprouts - 5th day. Excess moisture needs to be removed in order for sprouts to keep well. A salad spinner does the job fast, but I also had to use a paper towel since the holes in my spinner bowl are biggish. Total weight of seeds pre-sprout: 12 grams. After sprouting: 82 grams or less than 3 ounces.

My mother used to make fenugreek tea and I remember that it had a really horrible off-putting, medicine-like smell. After an overnight soak, I noticed a gel-like substance after draining. Totally harmless.

Repurposing the mushroom kit.

Fenugreek sprouts on the 4th day. They taste like soy sprouts to me. Total weight of seeds pre-sprout: 35 grams. After sprouting: 146 grams/a little over 5 ounces.

Mushroom-growing box sprouts new use

Reduce, recycle, repurpose. I don't put the last one into practice nearly as much as I'd like to, so to turn out a small batch of daikon sprouts using an old mushroom kit just opened another door into kitchen counter gardening. Sprouting always seemed a big mystery that included a set-up with multiple trays and constant rinsing - too much trouble when I can purchase a half pound tray of soy sprouts for a little over 1 euro - yet the thought of throwing out more trash simply bothered me.

A packet of daikon seeds had been sitting in my stash for quite some time, and when I came across last year's plastic black bottom/clear top mushroom kit, the idea of sprouting popped into my head. After giving the kit a good sterilizing wash and rinse in hot water, I placed the rinsed daikon seeds (soaked overnight) onto a damp paper towel and plastic netting (cut from a mesh bag holding oranges). The reason for the mesh was that I figured that the sprouts would need something stable to adhere to as they grew taller but a second experiment proved that they only need a paper towel.

I followed the exact steps for sprouting by rinsing twice a day and using a fine wire sieve to drain them into before replacing the seeds back into the box. Once the seeds began sprouting it was tricky to rinse them but again, a fine sieve makes an indispensable kitchen tool. When the sprouts put out leaves, I stopped rinsing and placed the box in a spot with indirect sunlight. When they grew to about 4 inches in height, I snipped them from the root bottoms and used them in temaki sushi. Delicious!

I found these at a natural foods store: mung beans, red cabbage, fenugreek and a mix that contains alfalfa, garden cress, fenugreek and mustard; it should be interesting to see how they taste.