How To Choose And Care For Seeds To Easily Grow Sprouts And Microgreens On Your Kitchen Countertop

You don't have to be a vegan, vegetarian or raw foodist to enjoy the powerful health benefits of raising sprouts and microgreen's right on your kitchen countertop.

Even if I were not a High Raw Living Foodist, practicing in a large part Dr. Ann Wigmore's Living Food Lifestyle, I would make sprouts and microgreen's a large part of my diet. I depend on sprouted organic seeds, to provide myself and my family with a host of powerful live enzymes, vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, prebiotic and probiotic properties.

Whenever a vegan or vegetarian client comes to me with complaints of weakness or loss of vitality, the first thing I ask them is if they are sprouting seeds and eating microgreens. Because of the poor quality of the foods available to us in the supermarkets we must grow our healthy sprouts and microgreens. These two foods are necessary for all of us, to remain active and full of vitality, especially those of us who are on a raw living food diet.

The foods we are getting in the supermarkets are not the vibrant foods our forefathers ate. They come from factory farms where the soil is depleted and is nourished by chemicals. The plants are forced to grow faster than normal and are picked early, making for less spoilage during transport.

We overcome the disadvantages of the modern food producing and transporting techniques by making sure we are getting plenty sprouted greens and micro-green foods on our plates. Whether we purchase them from a local grower/market or, preferably grow them ourselves. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to find quality sprouted legumes and seeds in the marketplace. The good news is that it is not hard to germinate, sprout and grow these super-foods, as long as you start with the best organic, food grade seeds, which have not been genetically engineered.

Growing your super-micro green foods is easy and cost only pennies per plate. They are hard to kill off, easy to sprout, and you have the assurance you are getting a safe, clean, and highly nutritious product. I know that most of you who are reading this will be purchasing seeds. So like us, you will want to get your seeds from vendors, who sell healthy, high quality, organic non-GMO seeds.

1. The type of growing and cleaning conditions that the seed has experienced. You really want seeds that have been cleaned with hot water and untreated by dangerous chemicals, that have been grown under organic conditions.
2. The age of the seeds; as you want to make sure they are not too old. Though seeds can last many years when stored in cool, dry and clean conditions. The younger the seed, the less likely of it being exposed to pathogens.
3. Have the seeds been carefully dried under proper conditions and stored in food grade containers at temperatures that really should not exceed 50 degrees Fahrenheit?
4. Make sure the vendor understands you are going to use the seed for sprouting and growing micro-greens, not baking.

Once you have received your seeds, be sure to provide proper storing and handling of your seeds, in order to give them the best chance of germinating and giving you the highest quality sprouts and micro-greens.

This tip came from our old friend Ron Renfroe, who for about 30 years, was the "Grow Master" at Creative Health Institute:

1. Go to a craft store, spend about $10, and buy 1 pound of silica.
2. Buy a package of coffee filters. Put 2 tablespoons of silica in each filter, tape ends shut.
3. Place the filled and taped filter in a small paper lunch bag, fold over, and staple, so the finished bag is about 4" high by 4" wide. Place on top of seeds, before sealing the containers.

If you need to keep your seeds for a really long time, freeze or refrigerate your seeds. Freezing them will at least quadruple the life of your seeds, and refrigerating them doubles their life.

• Our number one seed storage rule is to keep the seeds in a cool, dry, dark place where the temperature is between 55 and 70 degrees and the humidity is less than 70%. The lower the humidity, the better. Remember we are trying to protect the seeds from airborne pathogens, molds, mildew and bacteria.
• Store the seeds in food grade airtight containers. "No paint buckets, especially used ones." Keeping in mind your seeds may be stored in the container for many months, you do not want to take the chance of them being contaminated by anything.
• To prolong the life of the seeds, you might consider purchasing small packets of oxygen absorbents. These are the small packets found in many of the food packages you purchase at your store, as well as smaller ones use by the supplement industry. The problem with using these is that they can only be used once, so it can become a costly venture, as every time you open your container, you have to replace them.

It's our sincere belief, that every seed you store, sprout, or plant contains within itself an inherent knowledge, an almost divine intelligence, exceeding the intelligence levels of our most powerful computers. Seeds know the exact moment to come alive, the types, levels and even the times, to take nutrients from the water and soil, and how to align their life force with the sun, moon and stars. Each seed contains the blueprints of the chemical compounds, needed by mankind to sustain man's life and heal his sickness and disease.

When choosing seeds for sprouting, or for growing micro-greens keep in mind what the final colors of the grains, vegetables and fruits would be if the plant were left to maturity. These colors are already imprinted into the seed, and you will get receive the the health benefits associated with of those colors associated with the mature plant, along with an exponential increase in nutrients, when you eat the plants in the form of sprouts and micro-greens.

This is something you may want to try. As I stated a bit earlier, seeds have intelligence, and the ability to sense and understand the physical state of the environment. What if we take it a step further, empowering the seeds to sense the emotional, and physical state of the person handling them? What if the seeds could sense disease or sickness in the person who is handling them?

From years of working with my clients, teaching them to purchase, store, sprout and plant seeds, I know that seeds sense our needs. I have taught my clients that the seeds have the ability to sense the human condition, and if seeds are handled with loving care and the human takes the time to let their DNA imprint, at an epigenetic level on the seeds, the seeds will align with the physical needs of the person and imbue the sprout or micro-green with the correct combination of nutrients to better assist in healing their handlers deficiency or disease.

In order for the seeds to flourish and be in alignment with your specific biological need, the following steps are necessary:

1. Before opening the seed box clear your mind of any feelings of anxiety. Simply, say the words thank you, thank you, thank you.
2. Lift your hands in a show of gratitude to God and the universe. Smile and acknowledge in your spirit you are loved and you are grateful for the seeds before you.
3. Open the seed box and gently place both of your hands on top of the seeds, feeling their presence, their life force, as you instill them, with your loving kindness and a heart of gratitude.
4. Gently take the seeds you are going to sprout, place them between the palms of your hands, hold them there for about a minute, speak to them from your spirit, giving them your blessing.
5. Place the seeds in your sprouting container and gently immerse the seeds in pure water.
6. If you are growing micro-greens rinse and remove the seeds for growing in your prepared tray of earth, once again giving thanks for the health and healing the seeds are bringing you. Sing, talk and tell your precious plants how grateful you are for them.(see the growing micro-greens article)
7. If you are water/air sprouting, then follow your normal time routine for the sprouting cycle. When you rinse your sprouts, lovingly hold the container in hands and bless the sprouts, with a heart of gratitude. (see the growing sprouts article)

The following is a list of the most frequently used seeds, grains, beans, peas and lentils used for sprouting and growing micro-greens. It will provide you with a conservative estimate of storage time allotted when stored outside of the refrigerator or freezer.

We hope this has helped, please let us know if you have any questions, and we will get back to you with answers.

Wishing you the greatest success in all your endeavors.

Bobby & Sue Ellen

Bobby is a Naturopath and Sue Ellen is an RN, both are dedicated to helping everyone live long and healthy lives.

• Principles and practices of seed storage. OL Justice, LN Bass - 1979
• Seed Preservation and Longevity. LV Barton - 1961
• Seeds: Ecology, biogeography, and evolution of dormancy and germination. CC Baskin - 2001
• Seed storage and germination under northern hardwood forests - DA Marquis - Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 1975 - NRC Research Press
• Cereal seed storage proteins: structures, properties and role in grain utilization PR Shewry, NG Halford - Journal of Experimental Botany, 2002 - Soc Experiment Biol
• Seed dormancy and germination, M Koornneef, L Bentsink, H Hilhorst - Current opinion in plant biology, 2002 - Elsevier