If you are a parent who has struggled to get your child to eat their ‘greens’ then perhaps you might want to introduce them to sprouts and sprouting.  Sprouts provide amazing healthy food ideas and there is no better way to turn your children onto the health benefits of sprouted foods than to directly involve them in the sprouting process.

Children naturally love to see things grow and it is usually fairly easy to catch their attention and curiosity when you tell them, ‘We are going to grow our own greens!’ Introducing them to the life processes of germination and sprouting can be very fun when they get to be the little gardeners of their own vegetables.

A story was shared with us about a 9 year old boy who absolutely refused to eat any green vegetables for his whole childhood.  The mother had resigned to supplementing his diet with green vitamins that can be purchased in most health food stores.

One day she decided to ask him to help her soak some lentil seeds that she had planned to sprout for her salads.  The boy asked why the seeds needed to soak and the mother explained that the seed ‘needs to be awakened from its nap’.  The boy’s imagination took over from there and as he filled the jar with water he talked to the seeds saying, ‘wake up you sleepy heads, it’s time to go to work’.

The boy stayed with those seeds throughout their process of awakening and the mother told him a story of how the little seeds only job they wanted to have was to help human bodies to become like them – strong, healthy, and energized.  The boy asked how they would help his body become that way and the mother told him that all he had to do was allow them into his body and they would do all the work from inside!

The boy loved the idea of his newfound friends becoming a part of him and by the time the little tails showed up on those lentil sprouts he could not wait to sit down and enjoy them.  The mother said he told them before he ate them, ‘okay little guys, now that you are wide awake and ready to go, you need to come to the factory where you have been hired.’  She was amazed at how he then began sprouting for himself, each time assigning his new employees with jobs like ‘today you are going to help me jump high and run faster’.

Use your imagination and engage your child into the wonders of the life processes of their bodies through them being able to steward the life process of a little seed that will help him to grow! You can also use you imagination with the possibilities of healthy food ideas that sprouts and sprouted foods opens up.

Have you seen these crazy bean sprouters that are attached to the flush of your toilet for rinsing? I am all for fresh sprouts and good sprouting results but do you really want your food to be coming out of your toilet or bathroom and on to your table? I am sure you can pick up a clean water source from inside the cistern of your toilet but you will have:

1. The thought of where your sprouts were grown to contend with and
2. I am not so sure the rest of the environment within your bathroom is hygienic for food production, particularly your toilet!

For those of you who do not know what I am talking about, there are articles and Youtube videos floating around under the title “Bean Sprouter”. The device consists of a plastic bottle tipped upside down with the neck of the bottle pointing down. The bottle has a hole in the base (which becomes the top when inverted) for a hose to be inserted and your beans for sprouting sit in the bottle with some sort of mesh to prevent them from coming out the bottle neck. The hose is attached to a source of incoming water within the cistern of your toilet so that each time the toilet is flushed, water flows up the hose in to the bottle, down over the sprouts and then drains out the neck.

The principle behind it is fine. I am all for a sprouting method that eliminates the need for daily rinsing, as the bean sprouter effectively becomes an automatic sprouter. In saying that, I just cannot get my head around my sprouts being rinsed by my toilet….! Imagine sitting down to a fresh plate of sprouts and eating them at the porcelain throne….. Not that likely, so why would you want to grow them there?

Take away your sprouting headaches with the Marche Sprouting Method; no daily rinsing, no mess, no fuss and no toilet involved….!!!! Eating fresh sprouted foods is great for your body and growing the sprouts should not be a painful experience. Throw away the crazy bean sprouter and benefit from the years of research from Master Sprout Alchemist Robin Marche using his simple yet highly effective method of growing sprouts.

Choosing a Suitable Sprouter

So you have found some customers on your journey of growing sprouts for profit, now you need a suitable sprouting method. There are several sprouting methods available so let’s take a quick look at them. If you are growing sprouts commercially or even as a hobby for some extra spending money, the main things you are looking for in a sprouter are:

• The ability to grow large amounts of sprouts – this will be critical if you scale your business up
• Consistent results – your customers will be depending on your delicious goods!
• A fast sprouting method – this will make planning easier and turnover/output higher with the same set-up
• To be cost effective to set-up, which gets you to profit much quicker

Things you do not want in a sprouter:

• Require excessive amounts of space
• Requires daily rinsing of sprouts, as this turns the process in to work!
• It should not be complicated and require excessive cleaning between batches
• It should not use excessive amounts of water

A selection of sprouters is outlined below. You can find more detailed reviews by following the link at the end of each section.

Sprouting (glass) jars

This simple method involves soaking your seeds in water overnight, then draining them out and leaving the seeds spread around the inside surface of a glass jar to begin the sprouting process. Although you will certainly be able to grow sprouts in a jar, glass jars do not offer very good air circulation or drainage, so you will need to rinse them out with water 2-3 times a day to prevent the sprouts from spoiling. This may not be a suitable method if you do not have the time or are not available throughout the day to do the rinsing. If your kids are helping out (as they may love to do), then glass may not be suitable as it becomes slippery once wet during the rinsing process and broken glass is of course quite hazardous.

There are some glass jars available with a mesh screen built in to the lid of the jar that makes the rinsing process a little easier, however if you are looking at growing sprouts for profit, you are going to need quite a few jars and quite a bit of space to make enough sprouts to sell and the rinsing process for multiple jars becomes quite excessive. You are also more susceptible to losing a batch to spoiling from mold growth and you may disappoint your customers! For further details you can read more about sprouting jars here.

Sprouting Trays

Trays are the next step up from glass jars and they are often designed with improved drainage and better air flow. This helps to reduce spoiled sprouts that go slimy or moldy. There are also some stackable trays that will allow you to grow a greater volume if your intention is growing sprouts for profit. If using trays, you will still need to rinse the sprouts daily and failing to do so could lose your whole batch! They are also quite prone to drying out due to the large exposed surface area, so in warmer conditions, they may need to be ‘misted’ during the day using a spray bottle. There are also increased costs involved up front to purchase trays that are going to last a while and they can take up quite a bit of room. It is important to note that the trays must be cleaned thoroughly between batches to prevent mold growth and spoiled sprouts. You can read more about sprouting trays here.

Automatic sprouters

These devices are usually designed with improved air flow and drainage and have some sort of in-built water spraying device. This is usually set to operate based on a set time interval, where it sprays your sprouts to rinse them at regular intervals. This is a great way to automate your growing process if your lifestyle does not allow you to be attending to your sprouts throughout the day. There are a few drawbacks with the automatic sprouter; they are quite expensive to purchase, the water consumption can be excessive if you are environmentally conscious or have a shortage of available water and it is essential to clean the sprouter out thoroughly between batches. The cleaning factor is particularly important to note, as often automatic sprouters have many parts and places for bacteria to grow if not thoroughly cleaned after each use. Depending on the size of the sprouter and the amount of sprouts you intend to sell, buying multiple automatic sprouters is not usually viable if you are intending to make a profit! You can read more about automatic sprouters here.

Marche Sprouting Method

This is a revolutionary new sprouting method developed by Robin Marche through 20 years of research and development of sustainable growing methods. It uses a simple yet highly effective method of moisture regulation that eliminates the need for daily rinsing. The method itself is very simple to learn, very cheap to set-up and you can grow as little or as much sprouted vegetables as you would like in just 72 hours. You do some simple steps at the start and then leave them alone until they are ready. It is the ideal sprouting method when growing sprouts for profit for its simplicity, cost and ability to grow large amounts of sprouts without the need to attend to them daily and consume excess amounts of water.

A simple source of additional income can be to grow sprouts to sell. This could be as a hobby or it could grow in to a profitable business if you find a suitable market and customers. It is also something that is so simple, your kids may want to start growing sprouts themselves or they may like to join in and help you, as they certainly love to learn and watch the growing process . It is also a fantastic way for them to see the actual process of growing vegetables instead of just seeing them come from a packet or the store. Whatever the reasons are that draws you to growing sprouts for profit, you don’t need to do this on a commercial scale to make some money and you certainly don’t need an elaborate or expensive set-up to get started. There are however two aspects that are critical for success:

1. Customers to buy your sprouts
2. An inexpensive sprouter or growing method suitable for larger volume production

Where do I find customers?

This is of course a critical part of the process but it just requires a little thinking and observation. Basically you just need to think about where sprouts are consumed in larger quantities and who is likely to eat them. Some suggestions for where sprouts are used to help get your thought process started are:

• Restaurants
• Hotels
• Sandwich shops
• Any other food outlet that provides healthier options and salads

It is of course best to approach your potential customer first and if you do, be sure to take some of your delicious sprouts for them to taste! You can also discuss what type of sprouts they use the most of , how much they use and how often they will need you supply them. If you think about who consumes sprouts, the answer today is just about anyone! They are becoming an increasingly popular food in any household due to their amazing health benefits and they are especially popular with organic food consumers, raw foodists, vegans and vegeatarians, so anyone supplying foods to these markets may be interested in your sprouts.

Local markets and especially food markets are a great place to find customers as people will love the fact that your sprouts are so fresh and locally grown and supplied. You will need to package them up in to smaller containers or bags but this is not a particularly difficult process. With sprouting jars, trays and automatic sprouters, your sprouts could be quite wet and will need to be rinsed and dried out a little so they do not spoil in the bag or container. This step needs to be planned in to ensure you have adequate time to complete this. Sprouts grown using the Marche Method, will not require rinsing and drying back as they come out dry to touch and last remarkably long in the refridgerator.

The next step on your journey of growing sprouts for profit is choosing a suitable sprouter to ensure you can meet the needs of your customer…! The last thing you want to do is let them down if you lose a batch of sprouts that have spoiled and you do not want the growing process to be time consuming, as it is a much more enjoyable opportunity if it is fun!

The automatic sprouter is often viewed as the top level system for serious sprouters. They are designed to provide some sort of rinsing or misting device to eliminate the needs for daily rinsing. This is a considerable benefit, as you don’t want the powerful health benefits of eating sprouts to be overshadowed by a process that requires time consuming daily attention or the chance of losing a batch just before it is ready!

Benefits of the Automatic Sprouter

• No daily rinsing!
• Usually incorporate a good drainage system
• Less chance of mold growth and spoiled sprouts due to poor drainage
• Can be designed to allow a greater volume of sprouts to be grown
• Can speed up the sprouting process by the more consistent presence of water

Drawbacks of Automatic Sprouters

• Expensive to purchase
• Can be complex and fiddly to assemble
• Require thorough cleaning of all internal components between batches
• Uses excessive amounts of water
• Must be located near a sink for drainage or have a large bucket for rinsing water to drain in to
• Units that recycle the water for repeated rinses are prone to bacteria and mold growth

So are automatic sprouters the ultimate system for growing sprouts? We don’t believe so, particularly for the commercial automatic sprouters you can buy today. They do produce good results but cleaning is excessive still and they are quite expensive to buy. There is another automatic sprouter or method…. It offers:

• No daily rinsing of sprouts
• No time consuming cleaning between batches
• No complicated components
• Very low set-up cost
• The ability to grow large amounts of sprouts
• Sprouts that last much longer due to their sprouting method

Sound good? You can see what we feel is the ultimate sprouter. You may think we are biased but believe us, we have tried every type of sprouter and the Marche Sprouting Method will revolutionize the way sprouted foods are grown right around the world.

Happy sprouting!

People who have had some success but have also experienced the drawbacks of sprouting jars, will often move on to try sprouting trays. There are many different types and we will take a quick look at the benefits and drawbacks of this sprouting method.

Sprouting tray types

1. Plain flat plastic tray – this is a basic flat tray where you lay down some moistened paper towel sheets and spread the seeds to be sprouted on top.
2. Flat plastic tray with drainage pan – this is a flat tray with drainage holes to allow improved rinsing and draining of sprouts during the growing process. The flat tray sits on top of a pan, where excess rinse water is collected.
3. Flat plastic tray with lid - this method uses the same flat plastic tray but has a lid that fits over the top to create more humid conditions like those of a greenhouse.
4. Stackable trays – this method allows your plastic trays to be stacked on top of each other. The trays are fitted with drainage holes and a catch pan sits underneath to collect excess water.

Benefits of sprouting trays:

• Can provide improved drainage when incorporated with a catch pan
• Allows for improved air circulation depending on the design
• Allows a greater volume of sprouts to be grown over sprouting jars
• They are quite cheap to buy

Drawbacks of sprouting trays:

• Requires thorough cleaning between batches
• Requires daily rinsing of sprouts to prevent mold and to ‘feed’ the sprouts for growth
• Uncovered trays dry out quickly and require regular wetting down by either rinsing or misting using a spray bottle
• Trays with lids require less watering but have reduced air flow
• Sprouting trays take up quite a bit of room, with stackable types offering some improvement
• Stackable tray types can have reduced air flow and there are more components to clean

So the sprouting tray is one method to allow a larger amount of sprouts to be grown but they still require a lot of attention for rinsing and cleaning. They can certainly be cheap to buy but this is probably due to their limitations in performance. As with the sprouting jars, the drawbacks still outweigh the benefits so trays do not meet our standard as an ideal sprouter. Next we will review the automatic sprouter or you can jump straight to what we feel is the ulitmate sprouter alternative – the Marche Sprouting Method.

Most people start their journey in to sprouting with sprouting jars, due to their simplicity and cheap set-up cost. There are some important things to consider when choosing your sprouter though and these are outlined below. But first, let’s take a look at the process for growing sprouts using a sprouting jar!

How to use your sprouting jars

1. Place the desired amount of seed in the bottom of the jar (remember some sprouts will need plenty of room to grow)
2. Fill the jar with luke warm water and soak over night (make sure there is plenty of water to allow the seeds to swell)
3. Drain the water the next morning and rinse the seeds well until the rinsing water is clean
4. Drain the water out completely (it is advisable to have the jar inverted at an angle on a rack to allow all of the water to drain)
5. Rinse 2-3 times a day to ensure the sprouts do not spoil

Using sprouting jars offers several key benefits and drawbacks that should be considered, depending on the volume of sprouts you intend to grow.

Benefits:

1. Cheap to set-up
2. Readily available
3. Can be made at home
4. They do actually grow some sprouts!
5. They do produce reasonable results if handled properly
6. Sprouting jars are quite easily cleaned
7. Mesh lids are now available to make rinsing easier

Drawbacks:

1. The sprouts must be rinsed 2-3 times daily (this may not fit in to your lifestyle)
2. Drainage can be sub-standard which can lead to mold and spoil
3. Air flow is quite poor, which can also result in spoiling
4. Sprouts can break when being rinsed and drained, which causes them to spoil
5. Larger sprouts can fill the jar making them hard to remove
6. They take up valuable space in your kitchen, particularly if you use a rack to angle them for draining
7. Using multiple jars to produce larger amounts becomes much more consuming of time and space
8. Can use excessive amounts of water for rinsing if water is scarce

So sprouting jars will grow you some sprouts and you will probably lose some too through spoiling if you miss one of your rinsing cycles! Whenever the drawbacks outweigh the benefits, this is far from what we would consider to be ideal… It is however a reasonable way for kids to try sprouting as they can look in and see the growing sprouts, although the glass jars can be a little dangerous when handling wet for little hands! There are several other types of sprouters on the market and we will be looking at some of them in more detail. If you want to jump straight to our recommendation, find out what we feel is the Ultimate Sprouter.

Are you looking for an easy way to gain access to high nutrition vegetables at your own leisure, economically and without being subject to the seasons, growing times, availability and prices in stores? If this sounds good to you, then it is time to consider looking at a sprouter and growing your own sprouts!

Organic vegetables are usually more expensive than their non-organic counterparts, because it is cheaper to mass produce chemically fertilized vegetables and spray them with pesticide than it is to grow organically with rotating cover crops, natural fertilizers and finding non-chemical ways to deal with pests. Although one could reasonably argue that purer food is well worth the extra money, for most people the price of organic food places the possibility of eating a more wholesome diet further out of their reach.

This is where growing sprouts comes in. Having the freshest possible food you could ever access for less than what vegetables cost is a solution that can work for anyone in any situation. Seed prices vary per pound, but generally you can grow a pound of fresh vegetables in a few days for anywhere from 15 cents to 1 dollar per pound. Just a few minutes a day of rinsing will yield you huge amounts of highly nutritious foods that travel the distance from your kitchen counter to your table rather than hundreds or even thousands of miles. Kids love sprouting, and can learn how to do it very simply.

With a simple set up of a few jars with screen lids, you simply rinse the seeds 2 to 3 times a day, drain out the water, and place the jar on its side! If you have a schedule that does not allow for this, as some people do with eight hour work days etc, there are other methods of sprouting that are simpler, such as inexpensive sprouter devices with better air flow and drainage than you can get from a glass jar.

The Seeds of Sustainability team have taken the whole process a step further and created a revolutionary new method of growing sprouts that requires no daily rinsing at all! The Marche Sprouting Method was developed by Master Sprout Alchemist Robin Marche, through twenty years of research, experimentation and development of sustainable growing methods. The system uses a simple yet highly effective method of moisture regulation that eliminates the need for daily rinsing and the risk of bacteria growing to spoil your sprouts, making it the ideal sprouter alternative. Learn the simple method, set it up and 3 days later you have as little or as much fresh sprouts as you would like, for a little over the cost of the grain or seed.

Assuming you already know how to sprout, here is a quick, easy (and awesome) hummus recipe using your sprouted garbanzo beans or lentils! The growing sprouts will start to sprout little tails and as soon as the tails are half an inch long they are ready to eat. There is nothing wrong with letting them continue and grow longer, but some people prefer the taste when the tails are small.

The recipe and instructions are as follows:

• Simply place 2 or more cups of sprouted beans or legumes in a food processor and puree
• Add 1 tsp of lemon juice
• One chopped onion
• A diced bell peppers
• Some freshly ground black pepper or whatever your favorite herbal seasoning is to taste!

Use as a dip with tortilla chips, flax crackers, or as a delicious addition to breads and sandwiches. Take this hummus to a potluck and just watch how fast it disappears….:)

Sprouted beans can be lightly steamed and used to replace refried beans in nachos, burritos, tacos, or any other food that usually includes refried beans. Sprouted lentils can be made into a low temperature lentil soup with just a few slices of celery, carrot, and seasonings.

If you like wheat, sprouted wheat is one of the highest energy foods you can get your hands on, especially when it comes to grueling physical workouts or heavy labor. Sprouted wheat gives your metabolism a steady, slow burning source of fuel that lasts just as long if not longer than oatmeal!

Growing sprouts to use for your hummus recipe is easy (if you use the right sprouter and technique), and so is preparing them! Average preparation time is less than half than that of regular meals. Happy sprouting!

One of the questions that is often asked is how would someone who does intense physical labor or athletic activities like weight lifting incorporate more living foods into their diet, without missing out on the large amounts of protein they need. Fortunately, this couldn’t be easier through growing sprouts, as most legumes and beans are high in protein and easier to sprout than smaller seeds. Because they have a larger surface area, there is less moisture build up in the sprouting process, so they do not need to be rinsed as often as small seeds or legumes.

The most common beans to sprout for high protein energy are garbanzo beans (chick peas), mung beans, lentils, and almost any type of pea. Because sprouted beans have a very neutral taste, the amount of different foods they can be made into or added to is incredible. You can add them to low temperature stir fry’s, burritos, bean dips like hummus, cooked rice, soups (add the sprouted beans or legumes after the soup or stew is done cooking, while it is cooling in preparation for serving) and many other dishes. There is nothing like it if you are doing intense physical labor or weight training of any kind.