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Four Letters Re: Sprouting Techniques
Mr. Rawles,
I saw the post about Nick B. looking for help on the subject of
sprouts. Maybe I can help. Earlier this year I was checking things out on a
couple of preparedness sites. Some of the readers may know about these,but
I'll pass the links along for those who may not have seen them. This one Survival
And Self-Sufficiency Links has a lot of useful resources, and I found
this one for sprouts: Sprouting:
a brief overview. It has a few links above
the section on beekeeping. There may be others that I have forgotten, or just
may not have seen yet myself, but I hope they can be of some help to him and
other folks that visit here. May the Lord bless you all and your preps. - Dim
Tim
Sir,
For sprouting I use a section of the new plastic bug screen material for
screen doors. I fold the section up into a flat pouch and pour a measure of
seed in
then pin the opening closed. To make the pouch I staple around the three closed
edges. Then, once closed up I dampen the seeds, roll the screen pouch into
a loose cylinder and place it into a coffee can covered with the old plastic
cover. I keep a little bit of water, plus what drips off in the bottom of the
can to keep the internal atmosphere damp. I just make sure to dampen the seeds
as necessary, usually checking once in the morning and evening unless the weather
is really dry. - TCD
Hello Mr. Rawles,
I saw that you are looking for suggestions on filters for sprouting seed. The
following method works for me with wheat:
Sprout your seeds in a Mason jar with a thin clean cotton rag fixed over the
mouth by an elastic band. To drain, simply pour the water out slowly. Make
sure you do not let the entire surface of the cloth become wet, or it will
act as a seal. As long as some of the rag covering the mouth is dry, water
should flow out without any problems. To refill with water, lift the jar so
the cloth touches the tap while filling. All the best, - Roo
Hi,
I am a daily reader of SurvivalBlog and wanted to send a tip to the man
who is asking about how to drain the sprouts. I picked up three stainless steel
screens, already pre-cut to fit the top of a wide mouth quart Mason jar from
a local health food store/food co-op.
I soak the seeds for about 6-8 hours in water (from my Aqua Rain water filter
that I purchased from Best
Prices Storable Foods--they are great people to
talk with!) then I drain and rinse the seeds thoroughly and turn the jar upside
down at an angle in a tupperware type of dish to allow the excess water to
drain. I have been pouring the discarded sprout water on my houseplants recently,
the water doesn't get wasted and the nutrients can't hurt them I bet.
I prefer to use a mix of seeds, I use a bit of Alfalfa, clover, Radish, and
mung, it makes a great mix to add to sandwiches and the radish seed spices
it up
mildly too.
I suggest purchasing or making at least two screens so once the first batch
is done, which takes about 3 days, then I have the next batch coming along
to
replace it..
I am by no means a professional but have enjoyed sprouts all my adult life
and just recently figured I should get back to making them as once the SHTF we
will need to add fresh greens to our diets.
I encourage people to try different varieties of seeds and to mix it up for different
flavor combinations and the nutrients that each different plant seed can provide.
Sprout seeds do need to "breathe" so don't store them in airtight containers.
Sprouts make people crinkle their noses lots of times, sounds like rabbit food
and I strongly encourage them to try them more than once, I find them a wonderful
addition to sandwiches and Quesadillas, and oftentimes I eat them straight out
of the jar.
I have also read great reviews on a sprouter called the Sproutmaster, but have
no personal experience with it, the quart Mason jars with the stainless steel
screens work perfect for me.
Hope this helps!
Also, I haven't seen it mentioned or missed it, but I have been ordering all
my wheat, corn, oats, flour, etc from the Natural food co-op, the savings are
huge...we are very rural, live in the deep woods of the deep south and so have
to drive three hours to get there, we order ahead of time and about 3 days later
our order is ready.
Look for a food co-op or whole foods store and ask for their special orders dept,
we get a 20% discount for ordering over 50 pounds!
I have to pack them myself, but have been able to purchase much more this way,
I have paid about $14-$17 for 50 pounds of wheat berries, we have stored up
about 600 pounds so far of Hard Red Winter wheat, Hard White winter wheat, Soft
white winter wheat (for cakes and biscuits, tortillas) and Durum (semolina)
for
pastas,
steel cut oats, pinto beans, rice and bulk spices..we make a bulk order once
a month. with the price of fuel, we try to order as much as we can afford to
make the trip count.
I have collected all my white food grade plastic buckets for free from our local
Wal-Mart's bakery (an hour drive) and I add diatomaceous earth [DE] to all
to keep the pests at bay...if using the DE make sure it is food grade, it also
works
to worm farm critters, the bonus being it worms the animals and also cuts way
down on the fly population on the back end. We put it on our outdoor cat and
no more fleas, he is one happy kitty.
I wear a dust mask to not breath in the dust, as I am mixing it with the grains.
If
you have eaten or used a pre-prepared biscuit mix, then you have eaten DE.
thanks for all your hard work on this site! - KW
