sprout your own : pumpkin seeds

it's been ages since I wanted to write posts about sprouted seeds, but life & its busy-ness kept me away from it. (damn it !) And with the helping hand of a dear friend (thanks, Lisa !!), I managed to grab my motivation & actually start writing.

first, I have to tell you that I am NO sprouted seeds expert, but with hubby, we've been trying to grown our own, for months now. We don't grow all the seeds of the world, but I'll share with you how to grow (post by post, seed by seed) our own experience with sprouting seeds.

today I'll be talking about sprouted pumpkin seeds, and how to grow your own. Maybe you'd like to know first what they contain, and how they are so good to you.

P U M P K I N

traces of its consumption were found in Mexic, and dated from 7000 ago. Pumpkin, along with corn & dry beans, are the base of food in central America.

pumpkin contains 30% of proteins. It is rich in phospor, iron, calcium & sodium, and also contains a bit of zinc, copper & magnesium. Pumpkin is rich in β-Carotene, and in vitamins B, C & E.

for your health
sprouted pumpkin seeds are known to be terrific against parasitic worms & flatulence, and lots of other intestinal troubles. Pumpkin seeds also contain hormones that make prostat stronger. They are said to be aphrodisiac & (by extension) to be a remedy against erectile dysfunction. (aka male impotence).
They contain a lot of antioxydants (so will help you "fight" against aging) They are powerful sedatives (ease pains), help reduce inflammations, they relieve lungs & bronchi, are laxative & diuretic.

pumpkin is a super food, well balanced in sugar, proteins & fat. A handful of them is easy to incorporate in a meal.

... so now, I'm going to show you the tools we use, and the steps to grow your spouted pumpkin seeds. You will be able to eat your seeds after a day and a half only ! Yay ! That's FAST !!

our tools : a sprouting rack with three glass jars (I googed a bit & saw them here), which is basically made of 3 sprouting glasses, a drainage rack and a terra cotta drainage tray. But you can find other solutions like the Biosnacky Germinator Jar.


first of all, you have to have the seeds for sprouting. You'll be surprise to know that these are NOT sold as seeds for sprouting. I even wonder if they exist under this form. We never found them. (I'm talking about pumpkin seeds here) So these are ORGANIC (I insist on that point, though) pumpkin seeds, that you could easily roast & eat as is.

now, you must sort them & take the ones that seem to be spoiled, have lost color, the ones you see are not totally perfect. (see on the photo below, I took the ones that won't be selected for sprouting, out of the plate)

now you only have good seeds. They won't change shape or size, so select as many as you think you will eat, and that can fit in your glass jar. Pour them in your glass jar.

now pour water in it (not hot neither cold) & screw the grid lid on

now make gentle cicles with your hand/the jar, for the seeds to get gently cleaned off the dust & other tiny things, with the help of water. Pour the water delicately down your sink, like this ...

this stage is called "rincing", because you rinced the seeds (simple, right ?) Pour water again in your jar, and you're maybe going to see seeds float. You must remove these, as they won't be good sprouters. You will leave the seeds in that water during 7 hours.

after these 7 hours, you must empty the jar from it water, gently, and "distribute" the seeds evenly on the inner side of the jar. Now, the seeds will use the very water drops that were around them to "drink" & grow. Let the grid lid on, and turn your jar upside down on the rack. Leave them like that for ten hours. (I must add that 10 hours is just approximative. You can leave them for 8 hours, or 12 hours, it will be just the same)




after 10 hours (approx), take the jar from the rack, pour water inside, shake gently & pour the water down the sink. You've just rinced them for the last time. Now, put the jar again upside down on the rack, and in approx 10 more hours, you'll be able to eat your sprouted pumpkin seeds !! (DO NOT RINCE THEM AGAIN BEFORE EATING THEM !!)

now don't tell me it isn't easy peasy ! We tried once to germinate them for 1 or 2 extra days, but as a result, the seeds were really bitter, therefore not really fun for anyone to eat, specially the little ones ! So follow our advice, one single day of germination, and these will be good to eat.

concerning the taste, well, they almost don't have any, contrary to their original taste, or the taste they could get after more days of germination. The taste is neutral, that's why our boys accept & like to eat them. They're great to serve as pre-dinner snack :)

don't expect to see any stem going out, because after one day, nothing much at all has changed, except that the seeds are a bit more shiny & plumpy, that's all.


you may wonder which seeds we already have grown, or the ones we have already tasted.

well, as of today, we have already grown at home : pumpkin sprouted seeds, lentils sprouted seeds, sunflower young shots (beyond the stage of sprouts), wheat sprouted seeds (PS : my least favorite seeds). But we do have seeds in the fridge that are waiting for us to use them, and they are : garlic, onion, and fenugreek.

and we have already tasted (in addition to the ones we've already grown) : alfalfa, chickpeas, mung beans, radishes (MY favorite !), leek, brocoli & fennel.

you must have already seen this photo, but this is where we keep our "sprouting station", in a corner of our kitchen :

and this is little one, last summer, savouring a slice of bread with a bit of butter, and (store bought, not homegrown) radish sprouted seeds ... yummy !I hope you enjoyed this first post about growing your own sprouted seeds. I'll be posting new ones as we grow them ! Thanks for reading !

oxox

Sonia