How to Sprout Anything

What if I told you there was something you could start growing right away? No matter where you live, even if you live in a cold place or a hot place, you could grow this thing if you have very little space. Like, let's say you have no space at all. Let's say you don't have a yard at all. And. And, yeah, like, you just. You have a kitchen counter. That's about it. You can still grow this thing. Let's say you have no light, like, no access to light that you could put on your plants. You don't have a window. You don't have artificial light set up. Just, it's dark. It's. It's too dark in your mind for. For growing a thing. Let's say that. You tell me you have no green thumb. Like, you've literally never kept a plant. Your house is a place where plants come to die. You know what I'm saying? That's you. You can still grow this thing. So this thing takes up so little space. Like, it's the size of a plate, a dinner plate. So if you've got room for a dinner plate, you've got room for this. This thing takes so little light. You actually don't even need light. You don't even need light from a window to grow this thing. This thing takes so little time. Like, it's going to be ready to harvest in less than seven days. So if you have no patience, then you can still grow this thing. And finally, finally, this thing takes, like, no skill. It takes no skill. You don't have to be good at gardening. You don't have to have ever kept a plant alive in your entire life. You could have killed every single other plant you've ever tried to grow in your life, and you could still grow this one thing. Are you in it? Are you in. Like, are you. Are you intrigued? Are you interested? Would you want to grow this thing? But wait, I got to tell you more. Okay. This thing is so good for you. Like, full of nutrition. This thing is going to make your stomach digest food better. This thing is going to give you vitamins and nutrients and antioxidants, and it's going to taste so fresh. Fresh and delicious. So you know those meals where you're like, eh, meh. Like, not so great. When you add this to that dish, it's going to immediately, like, make that dish so much, you're going to feel like the dish is gourmet when you put this onto your plate. Have I sold you yet? Like, are you. Are you going to do this with me. What is this thing that you can grow in such a small space with no light, with no former experience or ability that is so good for you and will make your dishes so delicious? Sprouts. Sprouts, so easy to grow, requires so little of your time and your space, and yet so good for you. And here's the best part. You literally can't buy it. Like, if you buy this from even a farmer's market, the value, the nutritional value, the freshness, it's gone. Like, the only way to get good sprouts is to grow your own. So let's do this. Are you ready? I'm going to give you the short version of how to grow your own sprouts. I'm going to show you the step by step to do it. So I'm going to be reading from my book Leaves, Roots and fruit. Sprouts is in the step one. Why is it in the step one? Because it's so easy. Anybody can do this. It takes like no resources to make happen. So this is from page number 58. I talk about sprouts and microgreens in the book, but I am going to just talk about sprouts right now. So the first step to growing a daily supply of sprouts is to gather your materials. So you're going to need a draining tray, a non draining tray, and then you need seeds and you need water. Can you handle that? You need a draining tray, a non draining tray, some seeds and some water. Let me tell you. You know what I used the first time I did this? I used like a. What's that called that you put the noodles in to strain them? A strainer? Is that what it's called, a strainer? Molly's saying yes, it's a strainer. I use a strainer and I put it over a plate. Okay, so my draining tray was a strainer, my non draining tray was a plate, and guess what? It worked. So like no excuses, okay? This is a no excuses episode. Like you are in now. Okay? So non draining tray, seeds and water, that's all you need. All right, the next step is you're gonna soak a few tablespoons of seeds in water for about 12 hours or overnight. So I set this up right before I go to bed. Put a couple tablespoons of the seeds I'm going to sprout in the non draining tray, right? The one without the holes. And. And I'm just going to soak them in water. A couple inches of water, that's it. 12 hours, set a timer. Go to sleep, wake up, you just gardened. Congratulations. All right, so that's the first step. Next, after 12 hours, you're going to rinse the seeds. So now we move into the draining part. Okay. Grab the draining tray, and you're going to rinse them off. Pour the seeds into the draining tray, rinse them off with some water, and then set them aside onto a tray that is going to catch all that water. Right. So you're now using your draining tray, and you're just setting it right over something that's going to catch that water so you don't make a mess. I mean, it's not really that necessary. You just don't want to make a mess. Right? No messes. And then you're just going to let it sit there. So did you follow that? Like, literally rinse the seeds off and let them dry out? Having them in a draining situation where all the seeds can easily drain, that's going to prevent some of the. The challenges that sometimes people have with sprouts where they, like, get moldy or gross or whatever. As long as they're fully spread out on that draining tray, you're good. Okay. All right. So you're going to place them in the. In the draining tray, and then you're just going to let them drip dry. So you've rinsed them off, you're in the draining tray, and they're just drip drying while you're doing your thing. Like, you're living your life. You're going to work, you're driving, you're going to the gym, you're carpooling your kids, you're cooking dinner, you're living your best life, and you're gardening all this time because the seeds are just draining and getting ready to sprout for you now, 12 hours later. So the routine I like to use is like, start it before I go to bed, wake up, rinse it off right before breakfast, and then at the end of the day, when you're doing that thing like cleaning up the kitchen, do you do that? I don't know. Do people do that? If you are doing that, then you're just going to take the same draining tray, rinse it off, and let it drip dry again. Are you following? Could it be easier? Literally, rinse and repeat. Like, it's not just with shampoo, it's with the sprouts, too. So then you're just going to keep this routine every single day. And not for a long time, you guys, Just a few days. So you. Right before you go to bed. When you're cleaning up, give them a rinse, let them drip dry. In the morning when you wake up, give them a rinse, let them drip dry. Over the next few days, you're going to see the most cool, amazing, fun thing happen. And when you open up that tray and take a look, the seeds are going to be opening up because all that water has started to absorb into the seeds and they can't help themselves. They are going to burst open and produce that first little, I think you pronounce it cotyledon. Cotyledon. I don't know how you say it, but the first, truly the first leaves of the plant, they're going to produce those for you. And then you're just going to keep on with this process. So continue rinsing and spreading out the seeds every 12 hours until the sprouts are ready. Now, the main thing you got to do here is just take a little extra second when you rinse them off to spread them out over the draining tray. Because these are little tiny seeds, so they're going to tend to kind of pile up. And so you just want to take your hands, spread them out so that they're all getting to have equal opportunity to drip dry. Okay. Making sure this helps, like make sure the airflow stays good and prevents mold or mildew. Then to harvest, you don't even need scissors. Okay. All you're going to do is grab the non draining, the draining tray, and when you want to make something with it, you're going to do this really complicated thing, it's called your hand. And you're going to reach into the draining tray and you're going to pick up some of the sprouts and then you're going to eat them. And I know it sounds complicated, but trust me, once you know these steps, you too can do this. That really is all that there is. I use sprouts on everything. I put sprouts on top of my salads. I put sprouts on the side of an omelet. I make sprout sandwiches. Wow. Like, put a little bit of maybe some cheese or an egg or something else with those sprouts. So, so delicious. So you can enjoy these sprouts in any kind of way as soon as they're ready. So there's two things you can do before you eat them. One, you can let the sprouts stay, stay like a light color. So if you don't expose these to any light when you open up and check out your sprouts, they're going to have, like, a light yellow tinge to them or maybe even light green. And that's because they haven't photosynthesized yet. They haven't been exposed to any light. So. But if you want those sprouts to green up a little bit, this would be the one time you would need a little bit of light. So if you have a window anywhere, it doesn't have to be a lot of window light, but if you have a window anywhere, you can put those sprouts right underneath that window, right beside that window, and you're going to see all the tiny little leaves. They'll go from a light yellow or a light green to a dark green. And that's when you're going to get a little bit more of the photosynthesis process happening in those sprouts, and you get to enjoy that even more in your eating of them. And then rinse and repeat, literally. So take your draining tray, clean it out, spray it out, sterilize it. So I like to run it through the dishwasher, maybe put some vinegar on it to make sure there's nothing left from the previous sprouting process, and then you start it all over again. The sprouting trays I use, they actually stack on top of each other. So you could actually set this up where you're running a whole system of three to four of these trays at once so that you have some sprouts to enjoy each and every day of the week. Each and every week of the month. Each and every month of the year. This is something we all can do, no matter where we live, no matter our resources, and no matter our experience. Now, if that didn't convince you enough, let me show you a few highlights of why it's great to grow your own sprouts. Number one, nutrients. So homegrown sprouts are packed with essential nutrients. During this sprouting process, the nutrients are unlocked. So what was previously kind of locked inside in that seed where our bodies can't digest it, as soon as they sprout, it makes those nutrients available to us in our bodies. So this includes vitamins, minerals, and enzymes that our bodies love, including vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, minerals like iron, potassium, and magnesium. Depending on what type of sprout you're growing, these sprouts are high in fiber and low in calories. And if you know anything about taking care of your body, if you know anything about, you know, getting your body on the right track, those two things are the perfect combination. Getting more fiber into your diet is critical for gut health and just for feeling full. Feeling full and low in calories allows you to make room for other things like, you know, cheese and butter and stuff like that. These sprouts also have antioxidant properties. They have antioxidants that combat oxidative stress in the body. Oxidative stress is linked to all the stuff we want to avoid, like chronic diseases and cancers. And sprouts have cancer fighting stuff that we get to consume and we get to grow ourselves. That also enhances your immune function. So they've shown that sprouts have a really high vitamin C content and they can boost our immune system. So if you got a cold coming on, if you don't want a cold to come on, if you don't want to get the flu, or if you're fighting something that you need to give your body the nutrients it needs, your body's going to be able to use vitamin C from your sprouts so much more than it would some little pill that you find at Target. All right? Last thing is freshness and lack of contaminants. So if you see in the news, people are like, oh, don't eat sprouts. They're going to have E. Coli and all these like molds and mildews and things like that. And people are referring to store bought sprouts where these things have been packed together. They haven't been in a draining tray or they're not staying well drained and they're staying wet together. And it just has to happen when a farmer or when there's a commercial process to get the sprouts to us, they end up being wrapped and in a package that can cause contaminants to happen because all those sprouts are a little too moist. And so, you know, like lots of fungal and things like that can happen. But if this is happening right on your kitchen counter, then you're in charge. And you can know what's happened to those seeds from the very first, first second you soak them to the minute that you're eating them. So you get to get all this richness, all these vitamins and minerals. But you don't have to worry about all the contaminants if you follow my method. All right? So you have to make sure you keep airflow, you keep those seeds spread out and you always let them fully drip dry before you rinse and repeat. So you can ensure that your seeds that you're growing don't have pesticides or chemicals in them. And you also get to make sure that they're just, you know, you saw the process from start to finish. So are you in? Are you going to grow your own sprouts? Let me end this with my little beginning of my book, Leaves, Roots and Fruit. So let me tell you a little story. I love to garden, but I just don't have the space. I must have said these words a hundred times when I was in my 20s. During those years I lived in a small apartment in China where a row house in Philadelphia and a townhome in Virginia. Though my living space increased with every move, I never felt like I truly had a yard or a spot to put down roots and start growing. I still remember climbing the stairs to my apartment in China and seeing the farmers working the terrace fields behind me or driving in from an hour long commute in Philly and passing my friend as she watered her flowers. For a long time it felt like gardening was for people with picket fences or a farm, and I wasn't one of those people. Now, even as I sit here with a larger yard than I've ever had before, it is ironic that I often find as much, if not more, joy in the sprouts I harvest from the kitchen counter and the greens I bring up from the basement as I do in the harvest baskets that I fill from my raised beds. If only my current self could have shown my 20 something self that gardening was less about space and more about perspective. Because I was convinced that I needed a large yard in a dedicated area to truly start gardening, I missed all the opportunities that were right there in front of me. Even in my tiny little Chinese apartment, there was room to grow sprouts, microgreens, and even a small salad garden. If that space was adequate, then I'm sure you've got enough room right where you are too. All right. Are you in sprouts? No space, no light, no experience, no green thumb. This is the plant for you, so I cannot wait to see the sprouts that you grow. You can definitely get my book Leaves, Roots and Fruit to give you all the details on how to make your own sprout growing dreams come true and follow along. I'm going to be showing you online lots of the sprouts that I'll be growing all season long as well. I would love to help you grow sprouts and all the other things and to make that happen, I have a free resource for you and it's the gardenary planting calendar. To get it, all you have to do is go to gardenary.com podcast and we'll have that and many other free resources available for you to get to download to start using right away. I want to thank you so much for listening to the Grow youw Self podcast and for making the garden ordinary right where you live. Growing your own sprouts is no small thing. This may be little bitty leaves, little bitty harvest, but it adds up to big change on our kitchen table, on our dinner plate, in our bodies and in the whole entire planet. When we grow our own, we change the world for the better and you can get started right away no matter how small. Thanks again for listening and I will see you next time. Thanks so much for listening to the Grow youw Self podcast. You can keep listening anywhere you love getting your podcast delivered on Apple podcasts, on Spotify, iHeartRadio, you name it, we are there for you. And if you want to read the notes and get our free resources to help you grow more, you can go to gardenary.com podcast.