# Sprouts



## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

In the past I was never fond of the ideal of eating sporuts but one of my daughters has recently made me aware of their nutritional value and I have learned to eat and even enjoy them occasionally. 

Have noticed them mentioned a number of times here and I have a big question regarding their practicality when TSHTF. Where will the seeds come from? Beans are a no brainer but other more expensive or harder to come by seeds like alfafa, broccoli and other type of sprouts that I have tasted and somewhat like, wouldn't the seed be better used growing plants, producing the food and gathering more seed? How could a person justify eating the sprouts and not letting the plant mature and produce a larger amount of food when food in general becomes hard to come by?

If I have missed something or have not let the thought process run through my "noggin" long enough, please point that out to me. I am not attacking sprouts as a food source, just an ongoing process to reduce my ignorance level on new things that I have very little knowledge of.

If I can resolve what I see as problems with the sprout issue, I am going to add them to my food plan.


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## cybergranny (Mar 11, 2011)

Personally, I want to have them for winter fresh greens. You could let the plants mature and save some of the seed for sprouting and the rest for growing again continuing the cycle. Mind you, I would not think a lot of sprouts necessary for the winter just some to supplement.


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## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

Some seeds for sprouts are very easy to grow for yourself and some are not.
I love radish and chive seeds for sprouting in the winter and if you plan on gardening and learning to save seeds from year to year to become less dependent on buying seeds, you will be able to grow plants for eating and for producing seed for sprouting.
Chives grow very well for me and spread like weeds.. they bloom quite well and are perennial here in my area(zone 5). they can be potted up and stored in cold storage too and then brought in during the winter and forced to sprout for fresh greens.. since most people don't want the chives wandering all over the yard letting the blooms set seed and then harvesting the seeds for sprouting in the winter is a no brainer! 
Radishes don't like to form good roots for me in the spring and summer but do wonderful in the fall. But I found that the big seed pods if picked young can be just as tasty and yummy as the roots.. plus you get more.. and if you let them go and make seeds you will have seed for the next batch of fall radishes and for sprouting as well.
If you love broccoli sprouts and grow broccoli you can harvest the main heads, and even some of the side shoots of the broccoli and still leave some for forming the seed pods(which look just like the radish pods but slimmer) it would only take maybe 10 plants(which would be quite a bit of veggie for eating) after harvesting the main head and some side shoots, to produce a nice amount of seed for next years planting(which is only an ounce or so) plus quite a bit for sprouting..
Sunflower sprouts are supposed to yummy too(I do not like them) and are easy enuf to grow.
Alfalfa I have not tried to grow. 
Lentils are also easy to grow and make a great sprout.
Amaranth also makes tons of seeds and makes a tasty sprout.
Look up a book called "Seed to Seed" by Susan Ashworth and learn now how to save seeds for your favorite veggies and you will be surprised how many can be eaten as sprouts and are easy to save. I tried lettuce but I like it better for baby lettuce so I grow it over my fish tank(thanks halfway for your hydroponic thread).
Almost any cole crop(cabbage/brussels sprouts/cauliflower/radish) can be sprouted and safe to eat.


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## SlobberToofTigger (Dec 27, 2011)

Slam'en question and one that bothered me for quite a while as well. What I finally figured out is that I will collect and then sprout many of my garden plants (I don't need 8000 radish seeds saved over every year) and many of the natural seeds (edible weeds). Of course I also have huge quantities of some of the sprout seeds I like so that if I no longer have a commercial supply I at least have a few years of them.


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## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

SlobberToofTigger said:


> Slam'en question and one that bothered me for quite a while as well. What I finally figured out is that I will collect and then sprout many of my garden plants (I don't need 8000 radish seeds saved over every year) and many of the natural seeds (edible weeds). Of course I also have huge quantities of some of the sprout seeds I like so that if I no longer have a commercial supply I at least have a few years of them.


I've thought about saving some dandelion seeds and sprouting them for variety as I like blanched dandelion leaves in my salads or even cooked... glad to see someone else has thought about this. I figured that folks think I am odd enuf without them hearing this thought! lol


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## SlobberToofTigger (Dec 27, 2011)

Emerald said:


> I've thought about saving some dandelion seeds and sprouting them for variety as I like blanched dandelion leaves in my salads or even cooked... glad to see someone else has thought about this. I figured that folks think I am odd enuf without them hearing this thought! lol


I have a thorny pig weed problem on my farm. But on the bright side it is also known as Amaranth and produces a significant number of seeds. Using this as my guide I am actively looking for other plants I currently view as weeds and figuring out if I can sprout them.


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