Hi, my name is Melody and I usually go on the Peripheral Neuropathy forums, and the diabetes forums (as well as some others).

I was giving some sprouting tips to a fellow poster and she thought it might be neat for me to put some information on THIS garden forum. I never even knew we had a Home and Garden forum.

How cool is that?

So here's the information I had given to her. I'm just going to copy and paste it in this thread.

And if anyone else does sprouting, I'd be happy to hear it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Info on sprouting...............

Google the word SPROUTS and you'll learn all about broccoli sprouts, alfalfa, radish, fenugreek (WELL, ALL KINDS OF SPROUTS).

Because my husband has auto-immune stuff going on, I don't sprout Alfalfa, because of what I read about it, BUT I SPROUT ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING ELSE.

Here is a link to one of my sprout videos (I make my own homemade sprout trays.) This video is about my broccoli sprouts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E31aS...eature=channel

Now I don't know if you are familiar with youtube, but I have many sprout videos up on youtube. When you click on the link I provided, you'll see the first one. After viewing it, just go to the right where it says "more videos from eliz7212),

And ALL MY VIDEOS WILL COME UP. Jus select which ones that you think might strike your fancy.

I make my own yogurt (in a cardboard box), I learned how to do this from watching youtube videos.

I buy my organic sprouting seeds online from Sproutpeople.com and sprouthouse.com

When they arrive, I put them in ziplock bags, I label them, and pop them in the freezer. They don't freeze, they just keep fresh. I LOVE THIS.

I have not had to buy any lettuce for over one year.

My sprouts are the base for my salads, I just add my little tomatoes, red onions, cukes, black olives, a splash of extra virgin olive oiive and anything else that one adds to a salad.

You have NEVER tasted anything so good in your life and the nutrition of the sprouts (especially broccoli, well it goes through the roof).

Look at my fenugreek video. These were after 7 days of sprouting. They develop leaves.

My diet is plant based. My doctor is extremely happy with my progress and I bring him a bag of sprouts whenever my hubbie or I have a doctor appointment. My doctor is a body builder and he takes 4000 of fish oil every day.

SO HE KNOWS WHAT SPROUTS ARE!!!

lol

So when you get a minute, take a look at my videos. You can even see me and my hubbie singing Jingle Bells.

We are happy people, we love to eat healthy, and we try and keep stress to a minimun.

THAT'S THE KEY.

Try and de-stress.

Just start with a mason jar or two. Try and get some organic seeds, soak overnight and the next day rinse and drain twice a day. (any kind of sprout).

You'll laugh out loud when you see them start to grow.

I have videos of my sprouted lentils, and especially my mung beans.

YOU Have no idea how much mung beans grow (THEY BECOME BEAN SPROUTS).

No pesticides, no chemicals.

Just healthy sprouts.

Best of luck

Melody

Like I don't have enough hobbies...

I was thinking of trying this after I move. I really need to eat healthier. I know what not to eat. But it's hard to know what TO eat. How to make it? A life of what mom made, what I know how to make - which ain't much, lol. You just get in a rut. It's hard to see a different way.

I also want to get a juicer, since I'm going to have oragne and lime trees.

Why don't you start out like I did.

I went to the store and bought a bag of lentils (not organic but what the heck). I took some, washed them thoroughly, rinsed them and then soaked them overnight.

The next morning, I rinsed and drained again, and put them in a bowl. I just rinsed and drained them twice a day.

Well!!! you should see them sprout. In a few days they get little tails and then in 4 or 5 (and you can keep them in the fridge, covered in a bowl), and they will STILL KEEP SPROUTING.

I sprinkle them in Alan's salads, and when I want them I just take some Beano.

But they sure are pretty in a salad.

After I started doing that, I just graduated to the broccoli and the radish sprouts. Lord, my salads are the MOST COLORFUL things.

And so delicious.

Once I made the change, I knew I could never go back.

Someone on my sprout message boards made the following statement and it made a lot of sense.

IT'S NOT SO MUCH WHAT YOU PUT IN YOUR BODY BUT WHAT YOU DON'T PUT IN YOUR BODY.

No preservatives, no artificial anything. Nothing from a package. (Hard I know). There are some people who only eat things that they grew in the ground, and milk that they got from their cows. NOTHING BOUGHT IN A STORE, NOTHING WITH HORMONES.

Wow, if I lived on a farm or in Pennsylvania, I can just imagine what I would have growing in my back yard.

I'd even get my own cow!!!

lol
Melody

Melody, I've milked cows. It's not as glamorous as you might imagine, lol.



I didn't have time for much of a garden this year, but I picked the first of the tomatoes and the cucumbers are as big as my fore arm. Also have sweet hungarian peppers. The lettuce went to seed already, don't know what's with the cilantro - it was out there somewhere.

No pesticides, all natural. I make my own compost.

I get meat up the street, it's all local. They have pictures of some of the cows/pigs if they won ribbons at the fair. They all lived right here where you'd drive past them in their field. Not some factory farm animals, real grazing stock like the old days.

You'd like the big farmer's market with the local produce here in town. You like sweet corn? You should see it, by the truck loads!

I just tried your youtube link, but all I get is their home page.

Just wondering, all you do is sign up, then you can post videos? You use a webcam, if I remember, right?

Here, try this one!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjmD9rUUFSU

then look to the right and you'll see ALL my youtube videos.

And I just had to sign up, pick a user ID, a password, and that's it.

I have a webcam. I just plop down my sprouts in front of my computer, hold the webcam in my right hand, I aim it at whatever I want to record, (sometimes it's Alan who is in my kitchen, so I just aim the webcam into my kitchen (you'll see Alan eating my first sugar free apple pie).

so give it another shot.

And you milk cows?? amazing. You ask if I eat corn. I USED TO LOVE CORN, but I'm diabetic, so I don't go near ANY starches whatsoever.

I've got much better sugar readings since I eat the way I eat.

No meat for almost 20 years. I grow my own sprouts, (and you are absolutely right, I WOULD LOVE A FARMER'S MARKET).

And I had to laugh when you wrote about your composting.

You have to hear what I did to Alan the other day.

I was looking at my Garden's Alive catalogue and they sell all kinds of composting bins, (as well as WORMS).

So I'm in another room, Alan is on the computer, and I carefully say "Alan, I'm thinking of buying a compost bin" (he has no clue what this is).

He says 'oh, okay, if it has anything to do with your sprouts, have a god time".

I said "But we have to buy the worms too, and they have ALL SORTS OF WORMS, THEY EVEN HAVE FREEZE DRIED WORMS, but you need the live ones for the compost".

I hear a dead silence, he comes over to me and says:

"what did you just say??"

I look at him with this innocent look on my face and I said "well, if you want to really go green, and not do the planet any arm, then you have to compost".

He said "What exactly is that"? I showed him the catalogue and then I showed him the pages with the worms.

WELL!!! You never saw a man go completely mad in someone's kitchen.

I wish I had taken my webcam so you could have seen his first reaction.

He then put his finger in my face and said "If you bring a worm in this house, I'll, I'll, and he goes all red in the face".

I burst out laughing and said "Alan, this is me, ME!!!, Do you honestly think I would have something with worms in my kitchen".

You should have seen the sigh of relief that came over him.

This reminds me of about 15 years ago when I wanted to get a pet hamster for my son. My husband wanted NO PETS in the house.

So he was away at his office and I phoned him and I said "well, we have a new guest in this house". He said "Oh my god, what did you buy, did you get that hampster?"

I said "oh, no, something much better, much more instructional for our son, to learn all about how to care for an animal"

I said 'We got Iggy"

Alan said "What on earth is an Iggy?"

I said "he's in our bathtub right now". Again, he said "We have an Iggy in our bathroom?"

I said "He's 3 feet long, and I have him on a leash, he won't take up much room but when we bathe we have to put him in the kitchen".

He must have been staring down at the phone saying "What is this woman talking about?"

I said "We have a 3 foot iguana in our tub".

He was gulping and gulping and I could hear his voice catching, and then I said:

"Gotcha".

The next day I had my hampster.

You gotta love what I do to this man.

lol

Melody

What a hoot!!!!!!!!!

Hubby says he don't want to eat no spouts. He's a beans a tater - got to feed him meat kind a guy.

He said he put some of them things on his salad and ruined his salad.

Any suggestions?

Any beer flavored sprouts?

BEER FLAVORED SPROUTS???!!!!

lol lol lol lol

Well, if he's a beans kind of guy, SPROUT THEM.

Take a package of any kind of beans (or lentils if you are so inclined).

I'd try Black turtle beans or pinto beans (don't start with kidney beans).

So I would pour a quarter cup of beans in a mason jar (or any kind of jar or bowl). Fill with water to cover the beans all the way. Add a bit more water.

Soak over night.

The next morning, drain the beans completely, rinse and drain again (drain them good).

Put in a jar with a mesh top on (secure with rubber band). Two times a day, rinse and drain WELL!!!

In 3 or 4 days you will see the beans split apart and form a SPROUT.

This is when you can do two things with these beans.

Oh, because you soaked them over night, (it's called germination), you completely changed the whole nutrition and makeup of the beans.

They are now EXTREMELY HEALTHY and filled with enzymes and nutrients (dense nutrients) whatever the heck that means anyway (I watch youtube bean videos all the time).

So you can toss some of these beans into his salad (surprise him, don't tell him they are in there),

Or you can toss them into any soup or stew or anything you cooked, (or you can saute them in a bit of garlic and olive oil for a tasty side dish.

THEN HAND HIM A NICE COLD GLASS OF BEER TO WASH IT ALL DOWN.

See HOW MUCH FUN YOU CAN HAVE WITH BEANS???

lol

Melody

Love that iguana story!

I got my tiny dog sort of like that. Started looking at Newfoundlands. Next thing you know, the pomeranian was approved.




I don't do those worm composts. I just have a cage and throw stuff in it. It needs to be turned over once in a while, and it should be watered - I just hope for rain, I'm lazy.

But in spring, I take a rake and separate the chunks from what's turned to dirt. The dirt is dark as coffee grounds, and that goes on whatever bed needs it. Last year it went to the zebra grass. Some times it goes to the veggies or the roses.

The stuff that didn't break down goes back in the cage. Fruit and veggies, lawn clippings, dirt from old potted plants, all that goes in. My yard was hard clay when I moved here. Now the beds are all black soil, you can sink a spade to the handle.


I hope the people who buy this house decide they like gardening. I put a lot into that yard.

This might be a dumb question, but where is this cage? Outside, or inside?


Melody