Sprouting using too small 1.5 L colanders with Perspex covers.

The stages of sprouting:- basically there are four, 1:- Soaking 2:- Germinating 3:- Greening & de-husking and 4:- Storage. In the picture at the bottom left you can see the simple process of getting rid of the husks. With this technique you are soaking the sprouts for 10-30 minutes with the addition of the liquid Seaweed, this only needs to be done once a day, again a great timesaver.

We have found that a fine grilled colander combined with a perforated Perspex lid is the only one that performs all of these tasks’s exceptionally well. See the PDF file below for a brief discussion of some of the different types of sprouters available on the market today and how we feel they compare.

The kit is made up of:-

2 x Sprouting Bowls(inner gill bowl for drainage & outer for collection)  These are quality 1.5ltr made in Japan colanders, they can be used with seed sizes ranging down to that of Alfalfa, (not suitable for Cress, Mustard, Linseed which are either too small or produce a mucous substance which causes rot, these are better grown as vertical sprouts see Micro-Greens, Broccoli can be done in the colander as it can be a bit slimy best mixed with Alfalfa which spreads the seeds out, but better done as Micro-Greens or Vertical sprout). The beauty of using these colanders, apart from their many other uses when not sprouting, is that it is very easy to separate the husks from the seed. We have also raised the lip of the insert with a clip so as to allow greater air circulation ie from underneath, from the sides & from above. They also hold the clear covers in place. (see close-up pic).

In the warmer climates or during summer, the trick is to keep your sprouts moist & cool, you can raise the inner perforated sprout container, so air circulates more freely, this gives the benefit of moisture being drawn to the edges & evaporated thus increasing cooling ie the advantage of sprouting in a bag but also the advantages of seaweed soaking & husk removal. This is achieved by taking the inner part of the colander with the sprouts & placing them in a larger bowl, or tilting the inner part of the colander making sure the long edges line up.

2 x Clear Perspex covers, these covers perform a number of functions the principal one being to keep the sprouts moist but still allowing them to breathe, meaning that they do not dry out during the day meaning that you only have to rinse them once a day as against twice for most other methods. They also allow for stacking. Another huge benefit is when you finish sprouting if you just put the sprout bulk of the sprouts in a long with the lead in the fridge it creates the perfect storage environment i.e. the sprouts remain moist and ctinue to grow due to the lead and not allowing them to dry out however any excess moisture drains into the outer bowl.

Fine mesh cover this has 2 possible functions, one if insects are a problem than just place the colanders inside and zip it closed, the other function is during the final stage to remove excess moisture before storage to do this you place all the sprouts inside it fine mesh bag places in the washing machine and put it on the spin dry cycle a couple of times this will not damage the sprout but will gracefully reduce the moisture content allowing you to store it in the fridge inside a cotton detail or bag saves time waiting for it to dry out naturally. Just a note, probably the best way to store the sprouts when they have grown enough is just to put them in the fridge in the colander with the Perspex lid on, this way any excess moisture drains through the grill and the Perspex lid keeps them from drying out, I do it this way is now as it saves time and when I had finished eating one of the colanders I just restart the sprouting process while I'm still feeding the remaining one from the fridge.

500ml of liquid seaweed , we recommend the addition of a few drops of seaweed to the soak solution, improves germination, and increases the sprouts ability to remain vital in storage, as nutrients, minerals & trace elements from the seaweed are absorbed by the sprouts during the soaking process(Bottom pic).

The Seaweed that we use is Certified Organic & is extracted at lower temperatures than other products, meaning that more of the naturally occurring plant growth hormones remain active, it also contains Potassium Humate which comes from Gippsland in Victoria, described as 50 million year old compost, the best of its type in the world, containing a rich abundance of prehistoric minerals and trace elements. The seaweed comes from storm-carst kelp freshly collected on the coast of Tasmania. Kelp is the grass of the sea-world, it contains many of the micro-nutrients necessary to sustain life.

We also include 200g of Magnesium Chloride flakes (makes 500mls), the importance of Magnesium in the health of the body cannot be overstated. The highest quality Magnesium available, this ancient mineral is extracted from the lower layers of the Zechstein prehistoric sea(250 million years old), we mix this in with the liquid seaweed. It can also be used as a salt substitute i.e. mix with water & spray on your food or transdermally i.e. rub on your skin or use in a foot bath. Magnesium is the central atom in the Chlorophyll molecule, which has almost the same structure as Haemoglobin i.e. the red blood cell, another reason why greens are a must.

Seeds – 200gm Alfalfa  + 100gms of Fenugreek + 100gms of Radish.

Pic 2nd from the bottom on the left is a mix of Alfalfa and Fenugreek, the Fenugreek & Radish add a slight tang to the sweet Alfalfa taste, it also spreads the Alfalfa sprouts out so they don't clump so tightly together, again these can be stored for up to 1 week.

The picture on the right shows how easy it is to put together a nutritious sandwich when you have the ingredients stored fresh and ready to go, makes packing that lunch ever so much easier.

Slide Show- colander > Alfalfa & Radish Sprouting Sequence

Click here for Loose Sprouters Comparisons for Alfalfa, Fenugreek, etc.pdf