help on mini-gardening

[Stina]

I have bags of unhulled buckwheat and sunflower seeds. I also have restaurant trays to grow them in; someone recommended them for this project. Any advice on how to put soil together and growing tips? thanks, I'd love to harvest my own greens like this

[Veganforlife]

This link is for unhulled buckwheat:
http://www.sproutpeople.com/seed/bwgroats.html
and this is for the sunflower seeds:
http://www.sproutpeople.com/seed/sunflowergreens.html

The hulled buckwheat photo is the lighter of the two.

[Stina]

VeganforLife- you're great! thanks so much!

[RowanC]

I'm not sure who suggested UNhulled buckwheat but it's a pain in the kazoo in my opinion. You can't ever get rid of those buggery husks!

I use hulled all the time and it sprouts up easy.
The one time I used unhulled.. I ended up tossing it!

[mattsonfamily]

Buckwheat lettuce is one of my favorite things to grow as greens. They have such a mild taste and are great in smoothies, salads etc. I also use a lot of sunflower greens, especially in nori rolls in place of mung bean sprouts that tend to get gross so quickly.

I soak the seed overnite - standard trays are about 2 cups depending on the size. Place an inch of soil in my tray, top with Azomite (natural minerals) followed by the drained seeds. Cover with 2 layers of papertowel. Water thouoghly and cover with an inverted additional tray. Water 2 times each day. You will see the seeds sprout and the root develpment. When the paper towels start to lift and you can see the green shoots, remove the cover and paper towels and watch them grow!!! I like to use the sunflowers just and the 2nd set of leaves start. Taste them as they grow to decide what state you prefer them at. As for the buckwheat - they are just yummy! You can look up Ann Wigmore's Energy Soup which uses both buckwheat lettuce and sunflower shoots. I also do cabbage microgreens, arugula, pea shoots, wheatgrass, etc with this method. You don't have to mess with the sprouting in the kitchen and I think they turn out much better. If you go to wheatgrasskits.com they have lots and lots of info to grow greens and lettuces.

Good luck,

Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

My newest quest is hydroponic leaf lettuces in the kitchen....we'll see how I do.

I don't like paying a fortune to eat healthy!


Mindi

[sport]

I'm not sure who suggested UNhulled buckwheat but it's a pain in the kazoo in my opinion. You can't ever get rid of those buggery husks!

I use hulled all the time and it sprouts up easy.
The one time I used unhulled.. I ended up tossing it!

Whenever I have grown sunflower greens in the past I have used unhulled and the black bits were a nuicence. I had hulled sunflower seeds that were past their best by date so I decided to chance growing them and they were so much easier. This is what I will be doing from now on.

[tpvu]

Just posting this again as it seems pertinant here, too.
http://www.townsendletter.com/Dec2004/buckwheat1204.htm

[Lay-Lay]

I sprout them in a mason jar and then after they sprout a tail I fill a planting tray with rich organic soil sprinkle the sprouts over the dirt evenly (do not bury, just place on top of the soil) I water them and then place the whole tray inside a black trash bag and tie and place in indirect sun (like on a covered porch or a kitchen window). Then after 3 days I take them out and water them and in a couple 2 or 3 days I eat and enjoy.

[ltcartwright]

Lay-Lay, can you give details on sprouting the unhulled sunflower seeds in a mason jar. I purchased them without realizing they weren't hulled.

Thanks

[jacsam]

Ann Wigmore has a book all about doing greens this way, step by step.