For the 21 days leading up to Earth Day, we are asking you to Commit to Grow with us. We appreciate that some of you might not even have outdoor gardening space, so today we’re going to talk about Sprouts!
Probably the best thing sprouts have going for them is that they can be produced just about anywhere, at any time of the year. The equipment to produce them can be as rudimentary as a simple kitchen sieve, but specialized tools for sprout production have been developed and improved for decades. Sprouting is the simple act of bringing seeds and water together to produce food. It is quick, too — fresh, ready to eat sprouts can be had in as few as four days from starting.
As far as we know, sprouts are just about the healthiest of all foods. This is because the body can digest all of the nutrients they offer without doing much work. Unlike a mature kale leaf with its thick cell walls, kale sprouts are each “the whole plant.” Sprouts are the result of the germinating seed putting out a root to take in water and soil nutrients, and a single, simple leaf pair with which it can photosynthesize energy from the sun. As this process unfolds, the food within each seed is transformed into states our bodies can digest.
Some sprouts, mostly from the Brassica family, contain the antioxidant sulforaphane, which is thought to combat the growth of cancer cells, among other health-giving properties. All sprouts are chock full of vitamins and minerals, and they are an excellent source of protein and dietary fibre. The come in a wide array of flavours and sizes, from the tiny clover sprouts, to the substantial and crunchy pea sprouts. And if that doesn’t convince you, they can also be grown in combinations. We offer a number of healthy, easy, simple, but tasty sprout blends.
As we’ve said before in this series of Twenty-one Days of Green, if you can produce just a small amount of your own food — instead of driving to the store and buying it imported — your carbon footprint shrinks just enough to make it worth the effort. Learn how to sprout and pass it on. Share your skills with other foodies and gardeners. Join the sprouting movement.
