Growing Alfalfa Sprouts

Growing Alfalfa

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Growing Basics

Soak

8 - 12 hours

The amount of time your seeds should soak in cool water. Soaking is how we begin the sprouting process in most cases.
Rinse / Drain

2 - 3 times per day

How often your seeds should be watered. Rinsing thoroughly and then draining as much water as possible are key components to growing great sprouts.
Harvest

5 - 6 days

The time it takes to grow a finished Sprout, or other crop (Micro-Greens, Grass, Greens) from a dry Seed. Note: This "finished" Sprout is our preference. you may grow them for as long as you want! In fact, we suggest that you taste them at every rinse to discover when you like them best.
Yield

7 to 1

The amount of Sprouts, Grass, Greens or Micro-Greens produced by 1 unit of Seed. For Example 2:1 means that 1 pound of Seed will produce 2 pounds of Sprouts or whatever crop you are growing. You do not have to grow them all at once of course, unless you wish to =:-D

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Growing Instructions

Print Instructions

Soak 2 Tbs. of seed in cool water for 8-12 hours.

Drain off soak water. Do not ever soak again.

Rinse thoroughly.

Drain Thoroughly.

Rinse and Drain with cool water every 8-12 hours.

On day 3, move your Sprouter to a well lit location. Use direct sun only if you're growing in a tray.

Continue to Rinse and Drain every 8-12 hours.

Harvest on Day 6, when the leaves are open and most of them are green.

De-Hull your crop if you like before Refrigerating.

Video
Notes
Detailed Instructions
Additional Images
Taxonomy

See Our Other Videos

Seed Storage

The shelf life of sprouting seeds (how long the seeds remains viable - able to germinate) varies quite a bit. Though most seeds will remain viable for years in reasonable storage (dark, cool and low humidity), some will not. We suggest that you freeze your seed. Freezing extends the shelf life of a seed by several years. The only concern in freezing is condensation. All you need to do to avoid condensation is to return the seed to the freezer within a few minutes - after you've removed what you need, to grow your current crop. Also, Keep them in any sealed container. A plastic bag is fine. Glass is better. You do not need to thaw the seeds - just go ahead and Soak.

Sprouting Notes

When conditions are warmer your sprouts will likely grow faster. Likewise they may grow slower if conditions are very cool. As always 70° is optimal.

All sprouts generate heat while growing, which is a good thing, but it can get out of hand on occasion. When the weather is especially hot and humid you will do well to Rinse more frequently (every 8 hours if possible) using colder water than usual, to compensate.

We grow our sprouts almost exclusively in Easy Sprout Sprouters. By day 4 we have hulls coming off our sprouts, so we allow the hulls to escape. We do this by leaving the Growing Vessel inside the Solid Base of the Easy Sprout and then filling it with water. We use a fork to loosen the mass of sprouts, which allows more hulls to float to the surface. We skim the hulls off and compost them. It isn't necessary to do this because we De-Hull them when we harvest the crop, but it's a way to spend more time with your sprouts. We like to do that. It's possible that we're a bit odd that way - - but you see - sprouts are sorta part of our family - - hmmmm - I don't imagine that makes us seem less odd. Let's just leave it there. We are who we are @:-)

Depending on your Sprouting Device, not all of your sprouts will have access to light and so some will not green. This is not only OK - it is good. The yellow sprouts will be equally nutritious (they have everything but chlorophyll) and many think them more delicious (in Europe vegetables are often grown "blanched" by being denied light). We think they are prettier when there is a mix of green and yellow leaves to go with the white roots. So don't sweat it - just eat more sprouts!

When using a non-tray sprouter, you can help your crop by "breaking apart" your sprouts when they clump up - around day 3 or 4 and daily thereafter. We use high water pressure when Rinsing to keep our sprouts loose, but this only works for so long - so - when water isn't enough, loosen the clump of sprouts up using a fork or your fingers (wash your hands first please, if they need it). If you are using a Sprouter that can hold water, like Easy Sprout - fill it mostly full then use a fork to loosen the clump. You could also dump your sprouts onto or into something and just shake them apart. This clump loosening is by no means mandatory - but it will help more of their leaves to turn green. You should never be afraid*** of touching your sprouts. They are much stronger then they appear - just be reasonably gentle.

*** The only thing to fear is fear itself.

Alternate Growing Methods

Vertical Growing

This method produces very pretty sprouts that green most evenly and whose hulls are removed most easily. They do not however, taste any better =:-}

If you grow in a Tray sprouter - like SproutMaster, your sprouts can grow vertically - leaves (cotyledons) up, roots down. The trick to doing this is to keep your sprouts in place (don't "break them up" as you do in a non-tray sprouter) from day 3 onward. It is easy to do if, when Rinsing, you use a sprayer (that attachment most sinks have - the one that pulls out and is gun-like or a faucet attachment that offers spraying when pulled down) instead of your faucet. We have grown many tons of leafy sprouts this way. Here is a breakdown of the specifics (rinse numbers are based on 12 hour intervals - adjust as needed):

Rinse 1 (right after Soak): Use faucet or sprayer and Rinse thoroughly (use water at high pressure and use plenty of it). Rinse 2 and 3: Use faucet or sprayer and Rinse thoroughly. Rinse 4: Use sprayer and while Rinsing thoroughly, spray your sprouts evenly across the bottom of the tray. You can use your hands to spread them too. The goal is to spread them evenly. Rinse 5 and 6: Use sprayer with less water pressure. Rinse well - (which since you are using less water pressure means - for a longer time) but don't disturb the sprouts. Rinse 7 - 10: Use sprayer. You can turn the water pressure back to high - your sprouts will not be easily moved (broken up) at this point and the higher water pressure feeds oxygen to your sprouts as well as "cleaning" them, which is a wonderful way to produce healthy long lasting sprouts. Rinse and Drain thoroughly. Rinse 11 (if you need this many) or your last Rinse: Use Sprayer. Hold your tray at an angle (90° will work but less is OK too) and spray across the top of the sprouts to remove hulls. We call this SHAVING. It can be done at any Rinse or every Rinse - starting when hulls begin to be shed by the opening leaves. Rinse down into the sprouts too.

Vertical growing CAN be done without a sprayer too but it is more difficult. If you want to try all you have to do is regulate your water pressure - trying to keep your sprouts undisturbed during rinses 4 - 6.

Growing Leafy Sprouts as Micro-Greens

We have posted instructions to do this Here: Leafy Sprout Micro-Greens.

Yields approximately 4 Cups (1/2 lb.) of Sprouts

Seed Prep Measure out 2 Tablespoons of seed* Rinse your seeds to remove dust or debris.

Soak Transfer your seeds into your Sprouter (if necessary), or a bowl. Add 2-3 times as much cool (60-70 degree) water. Mix seeds up to assure even water contact for all. Allow seeds to Soak for 8-12 hours.

Sprouting Empty the seeds into your Sprouter (if necessary). Drain off the soak water. You can use it - it has nutrients in it.

Rinse thoroughly with cool (60-70°) water. Drain thoroughly.

Set your Sprouter anywhere out of direct sunlight and at room temperature (70° is optimal) between Rinses. This is where your sprouts do their growing. We use a counter top - in the corner of our kitchen, but where the sprouter won't get knocked over by cats, dogs, kids or us. We don't mind the indirect sunlight or the 150 watts of incandescent light, because light just does not matter much. A plant can only perform photosynthesis when it has leaves. Until a plant has leaves, light has little if any effect. Sprouts also happen to like air-circulation, so don't hide your sprouts. When leaves do appear, this will be plenty of light for them to green up!

Rinse and Drain again every 8-12 hours for 3 days. As long as you grow you have to keep the sprouts happy!

Always be sure to Drain very thoroughly. The most common cause of inferior sprouts is inadequate drainage. Even the best designed Sprouting Device holds water, so pay special attention to this step.

Greening On the 4th day relocate your sprouts if necessary. If you've been keeping them away from light, move them. Avoid direct sun - it can cook your sprouts. Indirect sunlight is best but virtually any light will do. Experiment - you will be amazed at how little light sprouts require to green up. Photosynthesis is a marvel!

Continue to Rinse and Drain every 8-12 hours. Your last Rinse/Drain will be either at the end of day 5 or the start of day 6 Always Drain Thoroughly!

Finishing Your sprouts will be done about the end of day 6. The majority of sprouts will have open leaves which will be green. You'll recognize them.

De-Hull You may De-Hull your sprouts at any time during day 5 or 6.

Before your final Rinse; remove the seed hulls. Leafy sprout hulls are not a real concern. They can conceivably lessen the shelf life of your sprouts, but we usually consume them too fast for that to be a concern, so it is, to us, more a matter of aesthetics. We think they look better with their sprout hulls gone - so we remove them thusly:

Transfer the sprouts to a big (at least 2 times the volume of your Sprouter) pot or bowl. Fill with cool water. Loosen the sprout mass by pulling it apart with your fingers or a fork. Hulls will rise to the surface. Keep pulling your sprout mass apart and move them around slowly, pulling them down - under the water - to make room for the hulls to rise. Skim the hulls off the surface of the water and compost them. Return the sprouts to your Sprouter for their final Rinse and Drain. You can also use our Dehuller (a small salad spinner with an excellent design that minimizes the sprouts that escape in the dehulling process). That's the short course - here is the full lesson. Better yet, here is our video on de-hulling.

Harvest If you Dehulled with our Dehuller, or used a salad spinner after dehulling in a bowl, you can go right to refrigeration. If not... Your sprouts are done 8-12 hours after your final Rinse. After the De-Hulling and the final Rinse we need to Drain Very Thoroughly and let our sprouts dry a bit. If we minimize the surface moisture of our sprouts they store much better in refrigeration, so we let them sit for 8-12 hours....

Refrigerate Transfer the sprout crop to a plastic bag or the sealed container of your choice. We have Produce Storage Bags that will extend shelf life substantially.

*Seed to Use

* If using Sproutpeople's Single Harvest Pack - use the whole bag (for a one-quart Sprouter). It will produce a crop of approximately 8 ounces.

These seeds yield approximately 7:1 - which means the sprouts will weigh 7 times as much as the seed you start with, but, they will increase even more in volume - so don't start with more than 2 Tablespoons per quart/litre of sprouter capacity.

Dry Alfalfa awaits Soaking.

12 hours later... Soaked, Rinsed and Drained thoroughly.

12 hours later... another Rinse/Drain cycle.Remember to be Thorough - especially in your Draining.

24 hours later... another two Rinse/Drain cycles.

12 -24 hours later... another Rinse/Drain cycle or two. Remember to Drain especially thoroughly, unless you are using a De-Huller - in which case thorough will do.