Yummy Green Sprouts!

I'm not blessed with a green thumb.  I learned this at a very early age.  As a child, my mother insisted that I couldn't even keep clover alive, at which I promptly plucked some up from the yard, and planted it in a pot to see.  I really don't recall the clover's demise, but I do seem to recall that it lasted longer than anything else I had previously tried to keep.  To this day, I occasionally try my hand at keeping a plant alive, but have for the most part given up on spending any money to do so!  I'm drawn to holding onto seeds from produce I have eaten, and have managed to keep a few avocado plants around for a while, none of them longer than a year, so far.  I am quite pleased with the fact that I still have five date palms I planted spring of '08!  Hardy little fellows, that tend to like being neglected, apparently.

One area I have found I can excel (anybody can!) is sprouts.  How much damage can one do in five days?  ;~)  If you've yet to try this, you really should give it a go.  My first try at it, was over 20 years ago.  Since then, I've learned a great deal more than simply alfalfa and mung beans exist.  A great site I highly recommend is sproutpeople.com.  They have more information than you'd ever need, and it's all free on their site.  Sure they sell seeds & supplies too, but they don't require that you buy from them, to use the information they provide.  A couple other sites I've also had good purchase experiences with are sprouthouse.com & wheatgrasskits.com.

There are so many kinds of sprouts to choose from!  One of my favorites for a couple decades has been broccoli.  The pic above shows some more of my favorites: pea shoots on the right, and a mixture of sunflower greens and buckwheat greens on the left. 

Recently, I discovered Milk Thistle seeds, and they were advertised as sprout-able (even though I was not on a sprouting site.)  Well, not one to let that opportunity pass by, I purchased them, and excitedly started up a batch in a jar when they arrived.  They took a bit longer than most, but that may have been due to somewhat cool temperatures at the time. (Actually, only about 10% of them sprouted, and upon writing the company that I purchased them from, they credited me.  But that is a whole other story, and I am no worse for the wear.)  The thing is, they were quite ugly to the taste buds!  Bitter little things!  Their look reminded me somewhat of miniature sunflower greens, but had no where near that wonderful sweet flavor.  If anybody has tried these, and actually liked them, do let me know!  

Do you sprout?  If so, what are your favorites?

:~)