Sprouting News: The Good, The Better, and The Best!
By Tricia Koontz
The Incredible Value of Sprouts
All sprouts can be considered Mother Nature’s super foods because of their remarkable nutritional properties. Studies have proven that they provide more nutrients than any other natural food known. Unlike foods that are processed, frozen, or cooked, sprouts contain living cells – this means you will be feeding the freshest possible “living food” to your birds. This food is exactly what your birds would choose for themselves in nature. Contrast this with the vegetable and fruit produce in our stores which, prior to our purchase, has likely been pesticided during growth, picked weeks ago, and shipped across the continent.
During the sprouting process, the concentrated nutrients stored in the seed as vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats, and carbohydrates are transformed and dramatically increased. Studies have shown that the nutrients in sprouts are increased at a minimum from 50-400% over their humble seed beginnings!
One of the best things about sprouts is that they are so very easy to digest because they are almost “pre-digested” by the action of sprouting. That’s a very simple explanation for a miraculous and very complex scientific process. These pre-digested foods rich in activated enzymes enhance our birds’ own internal enzyme activity. Sprouting converts the starches and proteins so that a higher quality protein source develops and the seed becomes the most nutritionally complex and complete food possible. Wow! The sprout crop you grow for your feathered friends is the richest and freshest possible. Not only does this enable you to feed a near-perfect daily food source, sprouts also help regenerate cells and boost your birds’ immune system.
A few final “super food” facts to convince you to try sprouting (taken from “LATEST NUTRITIONAL NEWS ABOUT SPROUTS” by Steve Meyerowitz).
“Alfalfa sprouts have more chlorophyll than spinach, kale, cabbage or parsley. Alfalfa, sunflower, clover and radish sprouts are all 4% Protein. Compare that to spinach – 3%, Romaine lettuce -1.5% and Iceberg lettuce- 0.8%, and milk -3.3%. The valuable wheat germ oil in wheat sprouts is broken down into its essential fatty acid fractions over 50% of which is the valuable Omega 6. Radish sprouts have 29 times more Vitamin C than milk and 4 times the Vitamin A . These spicy sprouts have 10 times more calcium than a potato and contain more vitamin C than pineapple. If you examine what is happening during seed germination, it looks like a vitamin factory. While mature radishes contain 100g of provitamin, the radish sprouts contain 39 times more! Alfalfa sprouts are one of our finest food sources of saponins. Saponins lower the bad cholesterol and fat but not the good HDL fats. Animal studies prove their benefit in arteriosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. Saponins also stimulate the immune system by increasing the activity of natural killer cells such as T- lymphocytes and interferon. The saponin content of alfalfa sprouts multiplies 450% over that of the unsprouted seed.”
What Is a Sprout? Really?!
It’s time to stress an important point: When I talk about sprouts I’m not talking about those limp green piles of stringy green things you see on salad bars. Sprouts are seeds which have just germinated – also sometimes called “soaks” or “pulses”. They are nutrient & enzyme packed little packages ready to launch a plant into the world, but they are not plants!
Sprouts with their characteristic little white tails
Potential Dangers?
I’m sure you’ve probably heard that sprouting can be dangerous. There are warnings and scary tales about bacteria, mold, and fungus. But really, isn’t handling all fresh food dangerous in a way, yet we do it every day? If you handle any fresh food incorrectly it will spoil. We have all had experience with spoiled foods and lived to see another day. The good news is that sprouts are no different from other perishable fresh foods. There is absolutely nothing to fear about sprouting. Just use your nose and your common sense while sprouting. If your sprouts ever smell bad or feel slimy, get rid of them and start over. If you use my method I don’t think you’ll have spoilage problems. Even better: successful sprouting is ridiculously easy and takes much less time than any other food preparation we do for our feathered companions.
Which Sprouter?
People sprout in everything from $150 “glamour sprouters” to ball jars with stainless steel screens held on by a metal rim, to bowls, to wet paper towels. Sprouting can be done in many different types of containers but I highly recommend the Easy Sprouter. I have tried so many different types of sprouters and do not use anything else since I bought my first Easy Sprouter. It beats them all by far. Here is a link to info on this sprouter: http://www.sprouthouse.com/Easy_Sprout_Sprouter_p/ezsprout.htm.
In my experience the claims by the Easy Sprouter inventor are absolutely true. This sprouter solves the typical problems that people sometimes have with sprouting such as moldy sprouts, drying out of seeds while sprouting, poor drainage, no air circulation for the sprouts, delayed sprouting, etc. This is a cheap sprouter at $12-$13 and will last forever. If you want to grow different mixes at the same time or you have lots of birds then the Easy Sprouter is inexpensive enough that you can have two of them (I do!).
You can study the abundance of information on the topic of sprouting from the resources at the end of this article and experiment for yourself with sprouting techniques. However I hope you will give my method and the Easy Sprouter a try. If sprouting is not really easy and if you don’t experience success every time I can guarantee that you won’t keep sprouting. That would be a sad situation for your birds. Hence the reason I recommend the Easy Sprouter over all others. The best news is that this simple little sprouter makes the process a mindless two minute task – you can’t beat that in the world of farming & fresh organic produce!.
Sprouting Overview
Sprouts are just like most other crops: They need moisture, moderate temperatures, and good air circulation. Pretty simple. In fact, here is the summary of sprouting in four words: Rinse, soak, rinse, feed. After all, seeds have been sprouting without human help, in dirt, for thousands of years. All we have to do is provide the right environment, and they do the rest. As sprouts grow, they release enzymes, carbon dioxide and other gasses. These waste products are easily removed by rinsing. Cool water rinses keep the sprouts from getting too hot and self-destructing. Keep your seeds moist, but not soppy wet – proper drainage is very important. Store the soaking and sprouting seeds in a warm but not hot area (between 70 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit). Give the seed room to grow and to breathe. Then enjoy the fruits of your crop! The great thing is, you can eat them too!
Sprouting Recipe
This recipe is for sprouting avian sprout mixes. The avian sprout mixes are composed of fairly quick sprouting seeds with very similar sprouting times. These directions for sprouting will also work for other combinations of seeds if you thoroughly research sprouting times for the seeds you mix and always choose seeds with similar sprouting times. The recipe will work perfectly for a single type of seed that you want to sprout.
How much seed to use? I have found that a batch of seeds will almost double in size after soaking and sprouting so 1/2 cup of seeds would yield one cup of sprouts. This feeds my two Amazons and one Linnie (+ me) for 2-3 days. You will need to experiment with the quantity that works for you.
- Put seeds into your sprouter of choice and rinse the seeds in cool (not cold) water. Mix the seeds with a spoon or your fingers to assure that all the seeds get contact with the water. If the rinse water is full of particles, rinse again to make sure the seeds are clean of the dust that accumulates from storage and shipping.
- When the seeds rinse clean, use cool water to cover the seeds in your sprouter. I make sure the water level is twice as high as the seed level in the container. The good thing about the Easy Sprouter, or, for instance, a ball jar with a screen on the top, is that you can see the seed and water levels easily.
- Allow the seeds to soak for 12 hours. Don’t put the seeds in direct sunlight. It is simple to remember a 12 hour period: either overnight or from morning to evening. As the seeds are soaking, initially you will see tiny gas bubbles, which means the seeds are beginning to release heat and energy. The miracle is beginning!
- After 12 hours, drain off the soak water and rinse thoroughly with cool water. Drain well. Draining is so simple with the Easy Sprouter because it has a built in drainer. Okay, that is my last plug but you will thank me if you get one!
- Place your sprouter out of direct sunlight and repeat the rinse/drain step every 6-12 hours. Rinsing is very important. The seeds produce a bevy of enzymes during the sprouting process. Notice that the rinse water is colored – that is a result of the enzyme by-products of sprouting. These by-products are the reason that many people end up with slimy rotten seeds instead of sprouts so rinse and drain well!
- Watch carefully for the first sign of tiny white tails (1/4 inch sprouts). From experience, I can tell you that you will miss this event the first time you sprout unless you take out a spoonful of seeds and really study them under good light after every rinse. Not all of the seeds will germinate their tails in the same amount of time but as soon as a seed soaks up water its nutritional value skyrockets, so it is okay to feed some of the seeds without little tails. You can trust that the batch is ready to feed when most of the seeds have tiny sprouted tails as shown in the photo above. This is when the nutrition in the sprout is at peak value.
- Transfer your magnificent crop to a clean container with a paper towel in the bottom. You don’t want to store soppy sprouts. Make sure that the container is large enough not to crowd the sprouts. Refrigerate, feed your birds, and enjoy some yourself! Congratulations Farmer Brown!
Note #1: There are some seeds in these bird mixes whose sprouting instructions call for somewhat more or less soaking. I don’t find that there is any problem with the 12 hour soak. Sometimes some skins will come off of some seeds – that is okay. Everything will still either sprout a tiny tail or be almost at the point of sprouting when the batch is ready to feed. I have found this to be true even when I add seeds to the online avian mixtures I buy because I make sure that the ones I buy from my local health store and add to the mix have similar sprouting times.
Note #2: Most beans should NOT be added to a sprout mixture for birds because they must be sprouted under special conditions and are not safe to feed to birds by this sprouting recipe! Mung, lentil, and adzuki are the only safe beans to add to sprouting mixes for birds.
Note #3: Sprouts do not store for long in the refrigerator so I try to grow just what I need for a couple of days. Many sprouts actually continue to grow in the refrigerator and lose some of their powerhouse of nutritional value. That is the most important reason to make only as much as you can feed in 2-3 days. I always start a batch as soon as the last one goes in the refrigerator.
Well, there you have it. Hopefully, you will jump into sprouting as soon as you can get your hands on a sprouter and some seeds. There is much more information on the web about sprouting for birds and many resources are below. It’s fascinating that something as simple as sprouting can add a profound amount of nutritional punch to our birds’ diets. When you see how your birds gobble up the first sprouts you produce I know you will be hooked on sprouting just like I am.
Internet Resources
http://www.birdsnways.com/birds/artdiets.htm
-A great library of articles on how to feed your parrots, how to sprout, how to convert finicky eaters to a food-based and sprouted diet, etc. – super resource!
http://www.aviannaturals.com
http://www.sproutopia.com
www.sproutpeople.com
www.chinaprairie.com
www.forfidssake.com
-All of these websites have advice on sprouting and lots of supplies, including sprout equipment, seed mixes for sprouting, etc. Get on their mailing lists for notices about their sales.
http://www.holisticbirds.com/hbn03/w…ecipes1w03.htm
-Articles and recipes for holistic feeding and keeping of parrots and links to organic sprout supply companies.
**For many more articles and gobs of information go to Google.com, then search on various topic lines. Some suggestions of good search topic lines are below.
- “parrots” + “sprouting”
- “sprouting nutrition”
- “sprouting for parrots”
- “how to sprout”
Search on as many topic lines as you can think of, the amount of info is endless!!
By Tricia Koontz
This article was originally featured in our March 2009 Newsletter.
Article discussion thread on the forum
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Hello,Im from the philippines thank you to your article and information about the parakeet i learned a lot.