Locally Sprouted

We've got snow on the ground for April Fool's Day, but that isn't stopping us from growing a little of our own fresh local produce on the windowsill.

Sprouting is like growing your own vegetables for the cheap, garden-less, and impatient. I ordered a pound of clover seeds from Sun Organic Farm ($6) when I started sprouting, and, used 2 tablespoons at a time, they've lasted me years. Other than that, you just need a glass jar and some kind of strainer top (I use cheesecloth or a piece of an old pair of nylons and a rubber band). They maybe want a little light at the end of their growing time. And they're done in less than a week -- farming for the instant gratification set.

Sprout People is a great site for sprouting instructions and supplies, and you can probably learn everything you need to know in five minutes there. (I learned to sprout from these folks at the Boston Skillshare a few years ago. Quick plug for the skillshare, which is in two weeks: You should totally, totally go, and, um, apparently I'm teaching this year.)

I've sprouted on and off for a while, but our recent return to sprouting was inspired by Red Fire Farm's inclusion of sprouts in their last couple winter CSA batches.

P.S. Woah, have you seen Blogger's new Dynamic Views? Here's my favorite new view for this blog, but you can cycle through all new five options at the top right. (Add /view to any Blogger URL to get these options for other Blogger blogs.)