Frugal Luxuries® by Tracey McBride Est. 1993: January 2012

" We're sprouting new ideas all the time...."

-Richard Cook

I was wandering through the Blogosphere...looking for inspirations and happened upon a great site called Sprout People ...they generously offer an abundance of knowledge regarding the basics of "growing everything"...a veritable font of ideas, information and inspiration on the art of growing...thus...I made the decision to take action and cultivated some magic of my own!

Here's how:

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I gathered my sprouting seeds...an old canning jar with lid...a fry~screen bought at the 99~cent store to make the screened lid (so that I could wash and strain the sprouts each day)...along with a pair of scissors and a marker.

Using the canning~jar~lid~insert as a pattern...I traced circles atop the new fry~screen and then cut them out using the scissors. Hint: I cut out as many as I could from the screen at one time and saved them in an envelope for future use...reserving one for this project of course. :)

I tucked the circle of screen inside the lid.

Here's what it looks like.

I measured a tablespoon of mixed sprouting seeds into the jar...

...added about three inches of water and let it soak overnight...the next day I poured off the water and left the jar upside down to drain.

To prop it up for drainage, I snipped about 3 inches from a recycled plastic drinking straw and tucked it underneath the upside down jar (screen side down). After that I rinsed the beans daily, always leaving them upside down once I finished...I think next time I'll lie the jar on its side to get a better yield.

After five days of rinsing and draining!

Sending love and good thoughts to all...as always!
Warmly,
Tracey and Family x0x

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Here's some good advice from the lovely Sprout People:

The Basics of Sprouting

Seed Storage: Keeping your dormant seeds happy.
Soaking: Turning a dormant seed into a nutritional powerhouse.
Rinsing: Water is the key ingredient in sprouts. Use it liberally.
Draining: It is essential that sprouts be drained thoroughly after rinsing. Sitting in a puddle is the most common cause of crop failure.
Air Circulation: If your sprouts can’t breathe while growing - they can die. Don’t put them in a closed cabinet.
Greening: Photosynthesis is cool, and so is Chlorophyll, but not all sprouts are into it, nor is it necessary. Sprouts of all colors are packed with flavor and nutrition!
Cleanliness: Your seed should be clean and your sprouting device should be sterile. Wash your sprouter well between crops. Sterilize when necessary.
Storage: Properly stored, fresh sprouts will keep for up to 6 weeks in your refrigerator but fresher is better. Never refrigerate wet sprouts.
Eat More Sprouts! Grow More Often!