The main reason I’m so excited about alfalfa sprouts is the time it takes to make them.  I began soaking the seeds on a Sunday and they were ready to eat by Friday.  I really can’t think of a faster plant to grow!  I ate a few on Friday and let them keep growing until Sunday when they went into the fridge to stop their growth.  We’ve added them to some bean salad leftovers and put them on some sandwiches.  I feel like they’d make their own salad if we had enough of them.  They’re a bit bitter but have a great crunch and flavor. 

So, assuming you read the first post then you’ve already soaked your alfalfa seeds overnight.  The next morning use either cheese cloth or a metal filter to pour out the water but not lose the seeds.  From here on out the goal is to keep them moist but aerated.  I do this by just spritzing them with a bit of water from a spray bottle any time I go through the kitchen.

If you don’t spend your days at home with your kids, I mean assistants, then you may have to keep the jar covered with something to prevent them from drying out.  I don’t have to do this since I’m around enough throughout the day to just keep them wet.  Once a day I give them a rinse by filling the jar with water and then swirling it a bit before dumping it through the strainer again.  This helps keep the seeds/sprouts from clumping together too much and also keeps them clean.  My good friend Leia keeps her sprouts properly hydrated when gone by keeping a moist paper towel wadded up in the opening to the jar.  It seems to work quite well for her, or for the sprouts I should say.

They sprouted tiny roots after about 24 hours and by 3 days were looking recognizably like sprouts.  Between day 5 and 7 they’re good for eating, just rinse before using and then toss them in whatever you’re eating!  If you’re keeping them for longer just put them in the fridge.  Be sure to start the next batch to keep up a steady supply of fresh mini-veggies for the winter (or all year!).

It’s about that time of year when I start planting seedlings.  But those seedlings won’t give me anything edible for a few months.  So in the meantime I wanted to grow something more immediately available.  I can’t remember why but somehow I decided I’d grow some pea shoots.  They seem like an expensive thing to buy but really cheap to grow, and it’s not that hard to sprout a seed….

Whenever I do something for the first time I like to go all out.  So when after making the decision to grow pea shoots it seemed like a good idea to do something else at the same time.  After all, if I’m going to the trouble to take care of one sprouting seed I might as well get more “bang for my buck”  and do something else.  (This is a good example of what Madame would probably refer to as me “getting carried away,” but that’s another story).  The “something else” came to me when I was at Full Circle Foods and saw alfalfa seeds (and speaking of “bang fo my buck, the alfalfa seeds cost about $1, and a large back of pea seeds was about $5 at the hardware store).  Sweet, I thought, now I can grow sprouts too!   Starting with tips from The Kitchn and Golightly Gardens I measured my seeds and got started.

For this experiment I measured a heaping tablespoon of alfalfa seeds and roughly a quarter cup of peas (weird how we don’t call them pea seeds, or do we??).

Day one of anything on-going can be rather uneventful,and this is no exception.  For day one of alfalfa sprouts and pea shoots you simply measure your seeds, put them in a container, and cover them with water.  Leave them overnight and then the next morning drain them, using something as a filter, I use a small metal strainer.

Alfalfa on the left, peas on the right.

The alfalfa seeds will need to be kept moist, and periodically rinsed, but no more soaking is necessary.  For the peas you can just keep them soaking until you begin to see little sprouts beginning to form.  At that point you’ll pot them up, but we’ll worry about that in the next post.  If you’re planning on doing this little project just go get some seeds and get them soaking.  In a couple days I’ll post the follow up to this post with what to do after you’ve put them in water….