Sprouting: Day 5

My sprout jar has been growing like crazy but I thought there was just the little bit of room for more so I decided to do one more rinse this morning and then harvest them later today.

You can also leave it by the window sill on a sunny day if you wanted to develop chlorophyll. Today was pretty cloudy so no chlorophyll for me; perhaps the next time I do this.

Later on today, I did one last rinse in the jar. I then took out my sprouts and placed them in a deep bowl. Pulling out the sprouts delicately may be tricky especially if your hand does not fit the opening of the jar. In that case, you can probably use chopsticks to aid in pulling them out gently. I had no problem as my hand did fit in the opening and also my sprouts came out in one big lump.

Add cool water after extracting it into the bowl. Use your fingers to gently pull the sprouts apart if they are lumped up like mine were. The hulls will float up while some of the unsprouted seeds will sink. Push the hulls to one side if you can. It's a bit tricky it you have a lot of them floating around in the bowl.

Pull the hulls to one side, grab the sprouts and placed them on a colander or on a clean towel. I opted using a strainer so I won't loose any sprouts if I used the colander. Make sure they are completely dry before storing them in a container or ziplock lined with a paper towel.

Sprouting: Day 4

I was so happy to see these sprouts growing especially since this is my first time. Everything was going so well and then BAM! I took a closer look at my sprouts today and to my horror, some were fuzzy. Great, just when it was going so well too. I was tempted to throw them into the compost since they were now molded. Boo.

Deep down inside, I refused to give up. Maybe I can pick the bad ones out? Maybe I can rinse it all away? Maybe I should throw them and start a new batch asap? Or maybe ... what I do best ... Google! And Google I did and I'm so glad I did because I found out it wasn't mold at all but that the radish sprouts have fuzzy sprout tails!!! Oh the joy! So they were still good and I can continue to rinse and drain for the next while. I'm a happy camper.

Sprouting: Day 3

Again, it's all about maintenance and TLC - rinse and drain! By the looks of my sprouts, they seem pretty happy.

Sprouting: Day 2

Remember to rinse and drain twice a day (or more for warmer environments). I've only done my first rinse today. I didn't expect to see anything different in the last 24 hours until I really looked at the seeds. I was surprised to see them starting to sprout already! I love this part - when you get to see the growth and progress.

Sprouting: Day 1

So what's sprouting got to do with gardening? Well, I think it's still gardening but the indoor kind. And it also about growing food that you can harvest and enjoy. I was introduced to it by who else, my wonderful friend Jenn again (thanks Jenn!). She's been a great inspiration and you will probably hear me drop her name often on my blog.

Sprouts are considered a living food and carry high nutritional value and the food enzymes help greatly with digestion. To get the most of it's nutritional value, it's best to eat these guys raw. You can use them for salads and sandwiches, add them to your stir fries, blend them into your smoothies or use them for garnish. There are different ways to sprout seeds - in a glass jar, in a sprouting bag, or in a tray. I was debating between the first 2 and did a bit of research. The glass jar is the most reliable while I've read that the seeds or the sprouts may mold using the hemp sprouting bag. In the end, I opted for using a glass jar to sprout as it's also more economical - I had all the things I need with the exception of the actual seeds to sprout. So I went to the Earth's General Store and bought a salad mix in bulk (small quantity to start off with) that consisted of a mix of alfalfa, canola, radish and broccoli seeds. I also found a great article by Honestfare website on how to sprout (there's some great photos as well) along with using the Sprouting Book and Going Raw books as my other references.

Some things to remember when sprouting:

• Each seed sprout at different times so if you want to mix them, make sure that the seeds grow around the same time frame
• It's important to keep the seeds moist but not wet
• Drainage and air circulation helps to prevent molding
• Direct sunlight can cook the seeds/sprouts esp. during summer when it's hot and humid, so place them in indirect sunlight if possible during those times

Here's what you need to get started:

• A glass jar preferably with a wide opening to fit your hand in
• Your seeds to sprout -  2 Tbsp per quart 
• A piece of cheesecloth that is wide enough to cover the jar opening
• A rubber band

So first things first, you have to check for bad seeds and remove them (cracked or broken seeds). They help minimize the risk of the sprouts being spoiled and contaminating the other healthy seeds. The seeds I had were pretty small and tricky to filter out. What I ended up doing was placing them in a wide glass container/plate and pushing all the seeds to one side. I brought sections of it down a bit at a time so I can see the seeds better. Once they were good, I pushed them over to the opposite side of the original pile.

After filtering through the seeds, rinse them with cool water ensuring that you remove any insects as well. Soak the seeds by filling the jar 2/3 with water for about 8 hours. The bigger the seeds, the longer you will need to soak. Alfalfa and clover takes only 3-8 hours but because I have a mix; I'm taking the maximum route of 8 hours.

Once 8 hours have passed, I drained the water (you can use them for watering plants too) and flipped it upside down on a 45 degree angle on a dish rack to ensure that most of the water is out. Make sure that the seeds are spread out in the jar for air circulation; you can give it a bit of a shake and roll.

Note that for the next few days, it's all rinsing and draining (twice a day or more when you live in a warmer environment).

Another Try at Composting

The last time I composted was when my friend, Jenn, gave me a wonderful housewarming gift of a counter top compost bin. It's one of those cute bins that look like a cross between a small fire hydrant and a small garbage can (well that's what I think anyways). It had two activated charcoal filters in the lid that absorb odors. I was so excited to use it and it filled up pretty quickly with my kitchen scraps. Who knew I had so much kitchen scraps to compost?! It didn't take long to see little fruit flies all over in my flat. And it stunk bad. I had second thoughts then. But I refused to give up and read that I needed some dry materials so I placed some shredded newspapers in it. I think I tried a few more times before I gave up altogether because things just weren't working out. I even thought that perhaps I should try worm composting, but did not like the idea of worms escaping and roaming freely around (they like the dark and their ecosystem so that won't happen as I found out). But back then, I knew very little of composting and in truth, probably wasn't as dedicated to learn as I do now.

Flash forward a few years later and here I am with my wonderful friend, Jenn, again. Our separate travels in Europe has made us more aware of the environment we live and how we can do our part. Of all countries, Germany was an eye opener as they have a composting bin as part of their waste pick-up. So being back on Canadian soil and armed with our new found experiences, we both wanted to make composting as part of our daily routine. Luckily, there was a great composting class offered by the City of Edmonton at the John Janzen Nature Centre for $10. Mark and Megan were so passionate about composting and were very knowledgeable. We learnt what kinds of materials we can compost, how composting works, what are the different ways to compost, and what composts are out there. For anyone new to composting, the class was worth going to. It was 2 hours long and they even showed us all the composts that are on site.

Since I was still researching some possible composters to purchase, I used one of the ways they mentioned to compost - trench compost. You basically dig a trench into the soil and put some organic materials in there. You would cover each layer with the dug up soil and you do this until it get full. The trench compost was full in less than a week's time but it was enough time for me to figure out which compost to get. So what did I get? Well I was eyeing this one for a while, it's a dual-batch rolling composter! Unlike most composters, this one has 2 chambers built in. This way when one side is processing; you can start to fill the other side. It's convenient in that you don't have to find a way to store your organic waste elsewhere while the compost is doing it's thing. I got the compost at Canadian Tire but you can also get it from Home Depot or Lee Valley. Jenn, on the other had, was so creative and made her own compost bin. She needed a bigger one with a family of 6. Hopefully, I can convince her to write a post on what she did :)

As for me, I was well on my way to composting after putting my compost together. It took me about 1 hour on my own and it was pretty easy to do; just a lot of screws to twist. So what do we need to get this compost? Some of the important stuff I learnt was that you need Greens (e.g. veggie scraps and ground coffee - fresh materials), Browns (e.g. dead leaves and coffee filters - dry dead materials), Water and Air.

For beginners, a 50/50 rule for Greens and Browns is a good starting point. With all the leaves starting to fall, I raked up my leaves and then stored them in a bag. So whenever I needed some browns, I had some right there. You can also use your shredded documents as long as there's no glossy paper in there. Then I added the kitchen scraps. A thing about Greens, for a beginner, it's best to leave out the meat, dairy, diseased plants and heck even feces until you get a better understanding of composting. One can compost human waste but that's another thing that I may be willing to try down the road ... maybe. To continue, add some water so that it's moist but not drenching wet. Water is needed for our little friends - the micro-organisms - to live and do it's thing. You also need air for the organic matter to decompose and for the odour. If you ever find your composting stinking away, just make sure you rotate your tumbler or mix the organic matter in your compost. Luckily, my compost has air pockets all over the place so hopefully that means I won't be expecting any odours any time soon.

I also added something called, Bokashi. This bag of "fermented organic matter" and is usually "comprised of wheat bran, molasses and microorganism." I used it to help the process of the composting. It's also useful for odour so you can mix it into your pet's litter box. Mark also said that you can do a Bokashi Compost during the winter months when and if your compost is full. You would basically need to sprinkle some bokashi into the container where you are storing your organic material. You can get the Bokashi at the Earth's General Store.

In case I forget, place your compost in a sunny area. It needs heat to decompose and process the compost - that's why you may notice that some composters are black in colour to absorb the heat even in winter. The great thing with Edmonton is that even during winter months, we do get lots of sun despite being bloodly cold at times. And also ensure that you turn the compost about every 4 days to get some air.

Hopefully this helps you get started with your own compost without being too overwhelming. There's some awesome information out there and from the class I would dearly like to share but it can be information overload. And as Mark and Megan mentioned during the class - If it doesn't work, just try again. You'll eventually figure out what works for you.

The Challenge: To turn an existing garden to an organic one

I've been excited at the prospect of gardening again. The last attempt was a few years ago when I bought the Jamie At Home cookbook. I was inspired by all the things I was able to make at home in the book and also the many gardening tips to grow my own food.

mother's garden

I bought containers and grew my mini-garden from scratch on my condo balcony. I started out with green beans, purple beans, rhubarb, carrots and onions. The beans worked out great! The carrots ended up being as small as my pinky finger but hey, I'll take that. And the rhubarb and onions were no shows, but that's ok. Seeing the garden grow before my eyes and eating my own veggies was the best reward of any novice gardener. Then I took a break travelling and will be doing container gardening again in the spring, but until then, my new challenge is to revive my mother's garden and change it all to organic.

My mother mentioned that the soil hasn't been the greatest. So as any novice gardener does, I went online to find some help.  I found this article called, Building Healthy Soil, and gave it a try. The first thing was to find out what the current condition of the soil was. So using the article as a guide, I filled a glass jar 1/3 with the garden soil, shook it, and sat the jar on a windowsill as all the particles took its rightful place. The sand was the first to settle after a couple of minutes, followed by the finer silt after a few hours and lastly the clay after leaving the jar undisturbed overnight. The result of this test identified that the soil my mother had was sandy (see Soil Texture and Type in the article). So next I read how to improve it on the next section and it mentioned that I would need about 3-4 inches of organic matter like compost added to it as it lacks nutrients.  So I started with a trench compost on the end of the garden as a band-aid solution until I was able to find a composer that would work for me to make my own compost. I hope to compost in the fall and winter to have some fresh organic compost in the spring - in time for planting!