When it comes to growing your own food, we always try to find something that’s easier, quicker and nutritious at the same time. But for first-time gardeners, baby steps are essential.

Wondering what to start with?
Start with growing sprouts; Yes, one of the most accessible living foods to grow indoors & which barely requires any space or special equipment (not even a sunny window).

The best part?
They require just a few minutes of hands-on time & almost anyone can grow them at home!

What are Sprouts?

The journey of every plant involves a crucial phase called sprouting or germination, where the seeds break their hard shell, which is its natural defence coating & begin to grow the primary roots called sprouts.

This outer protective layer of the seed contains various complex compounds (phytates, enzyme inhibitors & various antinutrients) that slow down the absorption of essential minerals by the body & lead to digestion problems. Once a seed sprouts, the outer coating breaks down and converts the complex compounds into a simpler form.

The nutrient value present in the seed increases by almost 30 times that of the same plant when it’s fully grown, so the sprouted stage is one of the most nutritious stages.

Thus, sprouts are the germinated seeds grown without soil, a couple of inches in length, & have just started to develop stems & leaves. Each seed contains all the nutrition it takes to germinate & grow, which means if you are consuming a sprout, you are eating everything in a plant, from roots to leaves.

Types of Sprouts

Sprouts can be grown from many different varieties of seeds like

Bean sprouts
Lentil sprouts
Grass sprouts
Vegetable sprouts

Among all these varieties, the most common & healthy sprouts are grown from vegetable seeds like alfalfa, clover, turnip, radish, fenugreek & many others, which are super nutritious and easy to digest as compared to the sprouts of lentil or a legume. They are packed with vitamins, minerals, protein & antioxidants and hence help boost the immune system.

Why grow sprouts?

You can get sprouts easily from the supermarket or farmer’s market, but if you want them as your daily source of supply, it’s best to collect some wide mason jars with organic seeds & grow them at your home; for a sustainable & fresh harvest on your own countertop.

It would be best if you grew your own sprouts as they are:

Quick & easy to grow
Highly nutritious & delicious living food
Can be grown indoors with minimal equipment
Available in a wide variety of seeds

Benefits of sprouts

Apart from being a powerhouse of nutrition, these tiny sprouted seeds offer several health benefits that convince you to incorporate them into your daily diet. Some of their many benefits are that they:

Help fight illness as they are rich in antioxidants
Increase the availability of protein to the body
Support healthy digestion by converting complex nutrients into easily digestible form
Provide a vitamin boost with vitamin A, C, E, K & B complex
Facilitate weight loss due to richness in dietary fibre & low-calorie content

Some common myths related to sprouts

Now let’s talk about some common myths related to sprouting.

Growing them is a very time consuming process & it cannot be done on daily basis
You need darkness to grow them
Their regular consumption is very costly; thus you cannot consume them more often

Please remember, all of these statements listed above are wrong as you can grow them very easily, even in sunlight using very less quantity of seeds. Yes, you heard it right, sprouting is easy as well as economical provided you know the easiest & the most convenient method of growing them. And trust us, then you won’t find this process difficult at all

Growing them is a very time consuming process & it cannot be done on daily basis
You need darkness to grow them
Their regular consumption is very costly; thus you cannot consume them more often