© 2009 Making the Best of Basics ––Family Preparedness Handbook
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Reasons for using sprouts are so plentiful and so important it’s usually only a matter of listing them to convince you to try this very special kind of in-home gardening––accomplished in the comfort of your own kitchen. In-creasing numbers of families find sprouting nutritious, delicious, and far less expensive than store prices. This information is a digest version of the Kitchen Gardening chapter, to be released in the revised 11th edition of Making the Best of Basics––Family Preparedness Handbook.

Nutritional Advantages

Nutritionally, dried seeds, grains, and legumes provide only a small portion of the total nutrients the body requires. However, once they are sprouted, seeds provide the largest relative amounts of nutrients per unit of intake compared to other food sources. Sprouting multiplies the content of minerals and vitamins in the seed many times because a wealth of nutrients is released to aid the development of the seed during its growth process.

There is no doubt more nourishment contained in a plant’s sprout than at any other time in its life cycle. Often, new nutrients occur where there were none before. Vitamins A, B complex, C, and E are increased, sometimes as much as ten times!

Both the quantity and quality of the protein in most sprouts are dramatically increased. New amino acids form as the seeds sprout, resulting in increased digestibility. Sprouts are biogenic—alive and capable of transferring their life energy to your body. They contain enzymes which aid in digestion of foods, provide a good source of fiber, and slow the aging process. They are also an excellent multipurpose vegetable. Using sprouts greatly increases vitamin content of dishes, provides a ―live‖ food, and in general supports better health for the body. To add to all of their nutritional plusses, untreated and organic sprouts are free of pesticides and are pest-free, too.

Watching your weight? An additional benefit of sprouts is the low carbohydrate, fat, and cholesterol content—a real plus for weight-watchers.

It really doesn’t matter how sprouts are utilized in food preparation, they will sustain good health and stamina. If you had only a supply of sprouting seeds in your food storage, you could live a full year or more, eating only from your kitchen garden. The best part is that sprouts are also the least expensive fresh vegetables you can procure and store!

It is virtually impossible for a family to store enough fresh vegetables to last a long period of time—or to have them available in times of extreme duress, whether due to people-caused or natural disasters. By sprouting seeds, fresh vegetables are only 2–3 days away––year-round! Sprouts substitute for green vegetables and replace lettuce and other greens when they become expensive or unavailable. Get a variety of seeds and learn to use them and you will have fresh green vegetables year-round, even when there is no way to grow vegetables in soil. This makes sprouting seeds a high-priority acquisition item for your family’s preparedness plan.

The amount of food value stored in such a small space is a boon to a family’s foods storage program. Sprouting is a very easy way to increase the utility of many types of grains, seeds, and legumes or beans. Sprouts are easy to prepare and utilize. Both equipment and supplies are easily found and readily available almost anywhere. The effort required for a batch of sprouts is minimal. Bringing sprouts to the table, ready to eat, takes less than 10 minutes during the en-tire 3-day (average) growth period.

Compared to vegetable gardening, kitchen gardening with sprouts is easy. There is little fuss and bother. Sprouts re-quire no fertilizer. In fact, all that’s required is some water, air, and a small nook where they can grow. Sprouts con-serve energy, too. They require few resources for their sprouting cycle. You can eat sprouts without cooking them, and any sprouted beans or grains cook much quicker. Sprouts save money—all of the above, and this, too! Sprouting inexpensive seeds can help support your family’s overworked budget!

More Free Sprouting Information:

You can download the entire 11 Page Basic Sprouting Guide for free at www.wheatgrasskits.com/basic_sprouting_guide.pdf for more topics such as: step by step sprouting using jar and tray methods, the basic sprouting chart, ideas for sprouts and recipes, as well as a mini directory of sprouting equipment.

About the Author:

James Talmage Stevens is a preparedness practitioner since childhood, though not always by personal choice. He authored *Making the Best of Basics--/Family Preparedness Handbook/* in 1974. *Basics  *is now being readied for the 11th edition, 26th printing. With more than 760,000 copies printed, it is the preparedness industry's best-selling preparedness book.

Though out of print since 2000, demand for *Basics *continues strong in the used book market, where it is sold for as much as 6 times its original selling price! Previews of the new, revised, and improved 11th edition are available free at www.familypreparednessguide.com  until publication of the new version.

He is living the dream of having a preparedness haven on several hillside acres in a small rural community, in a 75-year old stone house with a tin roof, in the Hill Country near San Antonio TX.

Summer Sprouting Growing Tip

During the hot months of the summer it is best to refrigerate your sprouts after about 3 to 4 days of sprouting.  The sprouts will continue to grow more slowly in the refrigerator--- this prevents the sprouts from becoming too hot and spoiling.  Water every other day after refrigeration.