Feast of Fields and Brassica Sprouts

I went to Feast of Fields today (www.feastoffields.org) as a volunteer with the Guelph Organic Conference. What a wonderful event!! I ate ALL of the most beautiful, bountiful, local, fresh food, phew!
A few thoughts over the next few days...
I spoke to one of the Sprouts for Life vendors (www.sproutsforlife.ca) and asked him about the problems I seemed to keep having with my brassica (radish, kale, etc) sprouts: they always go mouldy! His response: Wash them more often!  They don't like heat AT ALL so wash them to cool them down about 4 times daily. New things to try...

Re-growing and Sprouting Fails...

So it seems that my regrowing cilantro attempt didn't work....

I wasn't sure what happened... It was very happy in the water but once it got into soil, no dice... After researching I learned that cilantro hates to be re-potted...  Oops!  I'm sure this could work with other herbs though.  Or maybe just keeping it in water.  Trial 2 at some point, I'm sure!

Luckily my lettuces are doing well!

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Also, my chickpea sprouting didn't work.  I realized after my attempt that I had initially put the beans in boiling water and then let it sit to soak as per the instructions on the bad.  I wasn't thinking of sprouting at the time so didn't think that I was "killing" the beans.  Next time I will just let them soak and then see if they sprout.

On the plus side, this was the first time I had used dried chickpeas to make hummus and WOW!!  The texture and flavour are INCREDIBLE!
I will never again buy canned chickpeas.  The soaking and cooking process is totally worth the extra little bit of work.  Nevermind how much cheaper it is to buy beans in bulk...

Lots of good learning happening!

A Little Winter Kitchen Lettuce Garden

I decided that to tide me over until I start planting (really only just a few weeks–wee!) I would try doing a little window lettuce and herb mix. I made up a "planter" out of an egg carton lid, and sealed the side latch holes with some folded and taped tin foil:

I filled the canister with damp triple mix with a little extra nitrogen (coffee grinds) since there's some brassicas in my lettuce blends and they suck up lots of nitrogen. I then sprinkled the seeds into their bed and covered then with a sprinkle of  more soil. I put them in my south facing kitchen window and will mist them with water every morning.

Let's see how this goes!

Sprouting Chickpeas

I've decided to try sprouting chickpeas to make raw hummus.

Sprouting beans and peas makes the mineral and vitamin content more easily assimilated by our bodies, as well as makes them more digestible.  Our diets are severely lacking in mineral content because of our conventional farming methods. (More on that in another post! Been doing some interesting reading!) Sprouts are a great way of starting to access these essential nutrients in a natural (read-not as a supplement) way through our diet.  Sprouting is also a wonderful way of getting some living food into your diet in the depths of winter-my body's been craving it!

So, trial 1: Chickpeas.

Step 1: Brought chickpeas to a boil and then let them cool and soak in the pot for 24 hours
Step 2: Rinsed and drained them in an old salsa jar with cheesecloth over the lip, tipped on a 30ish degree angle on a tea-towel to allow for drainage and air flow.
FAIL (it seems to not drain properly and stays far too moist on the inside, with condensation collecting on the upper side of the jar),

Solution 1: My friend Devon suggested just hanging them in cheesecloth.  Oh, creative brains that have never done things before! Sounds like a great plan.
Solution 2: I've also heard of the just having them sit in an uncovered colander...

I'll let you know what works for me in a day or two!