Growing Sprouts for Health and Convenience…
Most people have had some sprouts at one point or another, whether it be some bean shoots on a salad or mung bean sprouts in a plate of Chinese Chow Mien. However, more and more individuals are starting to become aware of the power of these ’superfoods’ not just as an addition to something else, but as an amazing meal in and of themselves. Growing sprouts yourself takes this to a whole other level, for the convenience (if you grow them the right way), low cost and having access to the freshest food grown right in your kitchen.
Sprouts (seeds or grains that have started to grow through the process of germination) are considered by many to be ’superfoods’, containing high values of digestive enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids not found in the unsprouted seed.. The list of health benefits can go on for pages, but perhaps the most basic and significant feature of these living superfoods is that the growing process itself gives you complete control over their cultivation. No added pesticides, chemical fertilizers or any other nasties but the water from your own sink. In a time when we can never really be sure what has happened to the food we eat before it reaches our dinner plate, the value of such a method cannot be underestimated.
On top of this, growing sprouts is possible in most places where it can be hard to grow vegetables or deliver them to places while still fresh enough to take advantage of the health benefits. Even if you lived on a boat, or in a climate that was either too hot or too cold to have a garden, you can still have access to fresh, live, sprouted vegetables when you learn the basics of sprouting. And also, unlike most vegetables, even if you live in a place where they are available, sprouts are never out of season.
Sprouts offer health benefits that are too good to be overlooked. The human body needs oxygen rich vegetables and living foods to thrive. As wonderful as these foods are, there are climates where it is unrealistic to expect people to be able to cultivate them. In extremely cold or hot climates, one of the very few options to have fresh food that does not have to travel hundreds (or thousands) of miles to its destination is to create an indoor greenhouse. Extremely cold environments would require an indoor heated greenhouse that is extremely expensive and complicated to build and maintain. At the other end of the scale, high desert environments are usually low on water, and to use hundreds of gallons of water over a growing season when most of it evaporates is unsustainable. Even in areas that are perfect for growing large amounts of fresh vegetables, year round growing is not possible.
To combat all of these roadblocks, the answer can lie in growing sprouts. You can create a mini greenhouse (or multiple greehouses), using a jar or similar sprouter, right on your kitchen counter or other convenient position. This simple set-up provides you and your family with an abundance of fresh, oxygen and enzyme rich foods all year round. There is also the innovative new way of growing sprouts called the Marche Method. It uses far less water, time and effort than jars and requires no daily rinsing, which is perfect for people with busy lifestyles who still want to enjoy the convenience and health benefits of sprouts.