Sprouting for the first time: Broccoli

[MusicalRawLady]

I am trying to sprout some broccoli...I started yesterday and they started to open up a little bit. Is there anything special that I need to know about sprouting broccoli?

[Stina]

My broccoli seed sprouts are ready to harvest at home!

Since I very limited land to grow on, I enjoy sprouting. I find air circulation to be vital since I live in a very damp environment here in Oregon. I sprout near a window and the breeze helps prevent stagnation that would produce mold. Otherwise, I would keep a little fan going near-by my sprouting operation. Also, I use the Now brand of...powdered Vit. C, ascorbic acid, I think in the rinse water. Just a tiny pinch and it helps prevent mold. Says right on the orange bottle' "Helps sprouting."

Funny story: I was working in a health food store a few years ago and complaining to a co-worker that I didn't like the hulls on the sprouts and didn't know how to get them off. Twenty minutes later, a man I barely knew walked in and said, "Stina, are you sprouting?!" I said yes. He said, "Are you getting the hulls off?" I said No! Then he told me how! ;) :)

I put them in a bowl in the sink, fill it up with water and really agitate the sprouts with my hands. It seperates them from the hulls and some hulls float to the top and some to the bottom and by pouring the water out you can discard them, holding the bulk of the sprouts in your hands; you'll lose a few sprouts. It's important to get rid of them, they got an anti-nutrient that binds minerals and are just unpleasant to eat.

Too much information? You wanted to know if there was something you should know? Okay, how's this? The sprouts taste like broccoli!!

[Doe]

Stina, thank you for every word of that information. Do you buy the srpouting seed at the HFS? The last time I looked ... probably over a year ago .... it was very expensive for sprouting seed. Something about it being developed at some university ... maybe Johns Hopkins .... and them having rights to it?

teri

[Stina]

Hi Teri- I do such small amounts of sprouting at once, like soaking just a tablespoon, that the price is negligible. If your local hfs doesn't have them, I bet you could order in bulk through them to save money. In my experience, most hfs's can do special ordering. Of course, there's always the Internet; I just rarely shop off of it.

[the_lab_rat]

This page http://www.sproutpeople.com/seed/broccoli.html has some great info on sprouting broccoli and tons of other seeds too. They're professional sprouters (lol!) so I figure they know what they're talking about :)