Grow Your Garden Radio

Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of grow your garden radio where it easy to be green.

Since the outdoor growing season here in the northeast is winding down, I figured I’d talk about some things that you can do in the winter time and year round to keep growing fresh vegetables for your table.

How can you grow healthy vegetables in your home in the wintertime in New England? And how can you do that without investing in a lot of expensive grow lights and paying the power bills for them

My favorite – indoor – year-round crop which requires virtually zero equipment are sprouts.

I’m sure a lot of you have heard about them, since they have acquired almost legendary status as a superfood. 

First, I have to say something about the term ‘superfood’.

Superfood is a marketing term with no scientific or regulatory definition.  Like most marketing terms, it was created to separate you from your money. It has little substance to accurately inform you on making a smart choice in the management of your nutrition.

Get past the large type on the packaging and read the nutritional panel or search online for nutritional comparisons for the most accurate information to make your food choices.

Go to the website for the Harvard t. h. Chan school of public heath to learn more on superfood and other food related marketing myths.

Links to this website and other resources are available for free on gygr.com.

So, marketing hype set aside for a moment,

There are a lot of peer reviewed studies which show significant health benefits of sprouts.

sprouts often have higher nutritional density compared to their adult counterparts due to several factors related to their growth and biological processes.

The first growth from a seed, called a sprout, pops up when your seeds have germinated, is an incredible package of nutrients in a protective envelope – the seed.

This envelope is just waiting for the correct conditions to signal it is time to continue to the next phase of the plant’s reproduction or propagation. Absent these conditions the seeds will remain dormant And viable, sometimes for many years.

Some seeds dating back 2000 years have been sprouted from a Judean date palm tree. There are other examples of ancient seeds being viable and germinated .

An extensive discussion of the ancient Judean date palm can be found on science.org and other databases free to the public.

Link on the  website.

Don’t expect the seeds you buy from your hardware store to last 2000 years before planting.

For many reasons you’re probably going to want to plant them much earlier than that.

The conditions that allowed these particular seeds to remain dormant yet still viable for all these years were quite unique.

Under the right conditions of humidity and temperature, and light, the seed knows it time to begin the next phase of its reproductive cycle or propagation.

Inside the seed along with all of the genetic information required to reproduce the plant are nutrients. These nutrients give the seed the energy to sprout and grow for a while without the need for additional inputs except for water to get to the next phase of plant growth.

So the seed with its package of nutrients are where the nutritional benefits come from when we grow sprouts and consume them before they get very large.

Typically the best time to harvest and use your sprouts is just as the first leaves called cotyledons are visible.

This is the sign that your plant is going to start requiring light because those first leaves act like solar panels to begin the process of manufacturing their own food and nutrients through photosynthesis. Before this time photosynthesis is not occurring and the plant is relying on it’s on board package of nutrients to survive. And so under most circumstances sprouts do not need light to grow. Some sources suggest that light may even be detrimental to sprouts. I have grown them in light but I usually grow them and darkness just because I don’t need to take space up on my counter for this process.   I couldn’t tell the difference between the one grown and light and the one grown in darkness

And so ultimately, we are consuming that early package of nutrients before the plant does.

OK so how can you grow these at home in the winter time inside?

Take a teaspoon of your favorite seed and put it in a clean quart Mason jar. Some seeds are better producers when you rinse them a couple times and then let them sit in water for 24 hours. After that, Rinse it twice a day and drain it carefully and completely, and put it in a cool dark area where air can flow through the container. I have screening material on the top of my jars and I put them In another container which will allow me to keep the Mason jar opening down at about a 45° angle to allow any additional moisture to drain out and for air to flow.

In a few days to maybe a week you will have a full jar of your favorite sprouts to put on salads or in your smoothies.

I have links to detailed instructions along with pictures and videos that you can follow along with.

I use Mason jars and replace the metallic top with a nylon screen to allow air to get in and circulate and for water to drain out.

I just cut a square of screening material and screw the mason jar cover down on top of it.

You can also purchase special screens for Mason jars if you don’t want to get a whole roll of fine mesh At the hardware store just to cut a couple of squares from it.

It’s critical that you clean your equipment very carefully and rinse it in the morning and in the evening. Always inspect your jar for foul orders. If you don’t rinse it regularly you could end up growing unwanted bacteria. Your jar should smell as clean as your water smells. If it doesn’t toss it and start over again.

The only time this has happened to me was when my dark area got too warm in the summer and I didn’t rinse it enough.

Experiment with the size of your jar and the amount of seeds that you put in. You want to make sure to have a considerable amount of air space to allow circulation which will reduce the possibility of unwanted bacterial growth.

Some of the most popular seeds to sprout are alfalfa broccoli lentil radish mung beans and sunflower seeds.

They’re all packed with a considerable amount of nutrients. Sunflower seeds being fairly oily will have more vitamins E&B and radish seeds very high in vitamin C and folate are also very spicy. You can easily kick up the interest in your salad by using these seeds. Broccoli is also nice and spicy with a lot of antioxidants.

Detailed nutritional information can be found on the USDA food data central website. It’s a comprehensive resource that you have funded with your tax dollars. There is no additional cost to use this database. Pub Med or Google Scholar will also give you some great information.

So sprouting seeds can be a great way to continue your gardening fix in the winter time. But also sprouting seeds year round can add a lot of variety to your dishes as well as a considerable nutritional benefit in a very small package.

Thank you very much for listening to this episode of grow your garden radio. Be sure to look at the show notes for this episode. You’ll find lynx to more reading as well as detailed instructions on how to keep your garden growing in your house in the winter time.