It's the middle of winter, and the only greens available are those miserable bedraggled looking bags of spinach from half a continent away. As much as you crave some fresh greenery on your dinner plate, you know those leaves grown with artificial light and chemicals in a greenhouse far far away have much less nutrition than spinach ought to.
If only you had your own greenhouse, or a small kitchen garden, where you could pick greens and herbs and all manner of delicious victuals, toss them in a salad, and have them in your mouth less than 20 minutes out of the earth.
Well, you can.
Sprouting seeds in a mason jar is a quick and easy way to get fresh, nutritious greens into your salads even in the dead of winter. They don't even need any sunlight! Here's how:
First, get some seeds. Alfalfa work well, as do mustard seeds, and can usually be purchased at organic food stores, garden stores, or perhaps in your grocery store, if it's a well-stocked one. Then find yourself a medium sized mason jar, or maybe several if you'd like to rotate growing cycles and have sprouts every few days. You only need the screw top part of the metal lid - the flat metal disk can be discarded. Place about a teaspoon of the seeds in the jar and fill with an inch of water. Now cut a piece of cheesecloth and place it over the mouth of the jar, screwing the metal lid down over top. Swish the seeds around in the water to rinse them, and then tip it upside down and drain the water out. Fill it again through the cheesecloth to about an inch, and let sit for several hours to fully soak the seeds. Then drain, and rinse again. Place the jar upside down on a plate and put a bit of water on the plate, just enough to keep the cheesecloth wet. All the seeds should be spread over the cheesecloth, soaking up the moisture, and getting ready for some germinating action. Put the jar in a cupboard - the darkness simulates the seeds being underground.
It should take 4 days to a week for the seeds to open and sprout small tender shoots upward. Be sure to rinse and add fresh water each morning, and check their progress. When they look full and about an inch tall, its time to harvest! You'll want to use them immediately, or store in the fridge for 2 or three days. Sprouts don't keep for long, so put them in a salad, a wrap or a stir-fry, and feel better about your winter diet!
