Growing Alfalfa
Have You Tried Growing Alfalfa Sprouts?
Growing alfalfa sprouts isn't all that difficult. There are some things that need to be done right to get the most from your efforts, and a wrong approach can of course result in zero sprouts being harvested. Unless you intend to go into the sprout business though, the sprouting equipment is somewhat minimal in terms of cost or complexity. One doesn't have to start with alfalfa sprouts; there are all different kinds of sprouts one can grow. If you learn to grow one kind, you can try other kinds, and in the process add some very nutritious and tasty items to your diet.
About Alfalfa - Alfalfa grass is one of the most common and one of the best sources of nutrition for livestock, especially horses. Good hay usually contains at least some alfalfa grass. As nutritious as alfalfa grass or hay is, we don't eat it, partly because it's not very exciting eating, and partly because we can't digest it anyhow. We can however digest the sprouts, and they taste good as well, plus they are highly nutritious, excellent reasons for growing alfalfa sprouts. Alfalfa sprouts contain protein, in fact are high in protein, and also contain vitamins, and minerals. Alfalfa nutrition has been well studied, primarily in terms of the benefits to livestock, but the benefits to humans have been researched as well. Besides being nutritious, alfalfa sprouts go great in salads, with soups (as garnishes) and in sandwiches.
Don't worry too much about not getting things quite right in your first attempt at growing alfalfa sprouts. While there's not too much that can go wrong, it things don't work out, a new batch can be started in a few days. One only needs a handful of seeds, a couple of tablespoons actually, to start a batch, so if you have to try again there won't be much waste involved.
Sprouting Steps - The first step always should be that of inspecting the seeds. This only takes a minute. Pour the 2 tablespoons of seeds out on a dinner plate (so you can collect them easily again) and simply look for pieces of foreign matter, withered seeds or broken seeds. You don't need to get out the tweezers and go seed by seed, just remove junk that doesn't seem to belong.
Next, rinse the seeds in a strainer, pour them in a jar, and cover them with an inch or so of water. Spring water or bottled water is best, unless you know your water supply is safe from contaminants. If there are contaminants in the water, they may end up in the sprouts, and eventually in your stomach. Let the seeds soak overnight.
The third step is to place cheesecloth, a clean stocking, or any woven fabric, over the lid of the jar, fasten it with rubber band, and turn the jar over. Do this over the sink unless you don't mind getting water on yourself or on the floor. Let the water drain completely from the jar. It's best if the inside of the jar is allowed to dry. Then, rinse the jar out and put the seeds back in. again adding water. Repeat this process daily for two or three days, perhaps four, and the seeds should begin to sprout. As this is happening, use less water, so the seeds won't begin to rot. When rinsing, swish the seeds around, the idea being to get the seeds and sprouts as clean as possible before harvesting.
By the fifth day, the sprouts should be ready to harvest. It's at this point they are at their flavorful and nutritional best. Give them a final rinse before harvesting.
A Tray Is OK – Yellow Is Too - Sprouts can also be grown on a tray, in which case they are periodically cleaned and rinsed by a combination of gentle spraying and draining. Once the seeds have started to sprout, they will tend to stay in place on the tray during spraying. Whether a jar or tray is used, warm water will speed up the sprouting process. Don't worry if some sprouts are yellow and some are green. Sprouts will be yellow if they didn't get enough light, but this affects neither their taste nor their nutritive value. You can cover the sprouts if you wish, in which case they all may be yellow. Your choice.
After a few successes you can streamline and expand your process, and go into the sprout business, or simply keep your small jar or tray and start experimenting with beans, nuts, and other candidates.