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[lovebirds]

I've been sprouting like mad recently. I started by making a nice sprouting mix for Digby after he was diagnosed with his liver problems. I combined all sorts of organic grains and legumes, some of which are: rye berries, wheat berries, brown lentils, green lentils, mung beans, aduki beans, chickpeas, marrowfat peas, quinoa, sesame seeds, flax seeds, buckwheat.
Separately I sprouted radish seeds and alfalfa seeds. And then I decided to try them myself and I loved them. So now I am sprouting a whole array of seeds and grains, basically all I could find 

I use all sorts of methods of sprouting. The most convenient is to use my Biosnacky sprouter (the plastic things in the photos below, it consists of 3 trays, but the third one is drying up at the moment ), but I am also experimenting with jars and collanders right now. As long as you rinse it twice a day, keep it in a nice warm place but out of direct sunlight sprouts can already be eaten starting from day 2 for beans and legumes, and seeds like quinoa and from about day 4 for micro greens, like radishes, alfalfas, broccoli, etc.

Here are some photos:

In a stainless steel colander and in a jar I've got Digby's mix (but for myself too, that is why so much of it), then some aduki beans, peas and oats in separate jars


Some wheat sprouting for grass, and two trays of cress


Oats and fenugreek at the top, and radish seeds with alfalfa seeds at the bottom tray



If anyone is interested, it's quite hard to find good unhulled oats for sprouting, good wheat is quite hard to come by to, but I've found an online suppler, called Imbhams Farm Granary (http://www.grains2mill.co.uk/catalog/). Their grains are not organic but they are grown without the use of man made chemicals and are grown in Surrey.  They are very clean and have sprouted wonderfully.


I've now also ordered this started pack of 6 packets of different seeds (I do have most of them separately but it's nice to vary combinations)
http://www.avogel.co.uk/shop/products/biosnacky/biosnackystarterpack.php

I really didn't think Digby would eat microgreens but he really gobbles down radish greens and nibbles a bit on alfalfa. I am going to buy some broccoli for sprouting too and see if he likes that.



Here are a few more online shops which have a good selection of seeds and grains for sprouting:

https://www.livingfood.co.uk/
http://www.wheatgrass-uk.com/
http://www.nickys-nursery.co.uk/seeds/pages/sprout.htm

This is the most brilliant website on sprouts, their nutritional value, videos and also they have great recipes. www.sproutpeople.org

I tried this salad yesterday using Digby's mix (but for myself, not for the parrot obviously!), it is really yummy!
http://sproutpeople.org/recipes/saladsandsides/curried_lentils.html

[geffsgrey]

Irina if I sprouted the Hemp, would it still have the same effect on the hormones of Chesta ? Sort of off but on Topic.

[Lesley]

That all looks amazing Irina!

I like sprouts myself too :-)

Flint not so keen so I'm just persevering with some basic ones until I can get him more interested.

You must be super healthy though!

[lovebirds]

it will probably have the same effect on her, but it will reduce the amount of fed in hemp so will be great for the other guys. Also, as it's still high in fat it's best as part of a more low fat mix.

[lovebirds]

Lesley, I've only just started eating them so not very healthy yet  I absolutely love soaked nuts, like almonds and peanuts and peas are really nice too, as well as other sprouts 

[geffsgrey]

I will add Alfalfa and White Radish to the Hemp. Which will complement the Hemp.

[lovebirds]

add some lentils and mung beans to it too (if you haven't yet), that will give a mix a nice texture of different size seeds and will reduce the fat content nicely but will add extra good protein 

[geffsgrey]

Will do got some here, and Flax as well. Thank you.

[lovebirds]

don't add too much flax, it's very sticky and mucilaginous,  as you probably know, if you dont want the whole mix to get covered in weird goo  I add a very small amount so that there are about 5 seeds of flax per serving.

[geffsgrey]

I'll do the flax in a seperate jar, and not in the sprouter, I normally sprout longer till roots and leaves are present and larger.

[lovebirds]

ah I see. With the beans and lentils sprouts it's best to sprout them just until the white tails appear, they are more nutritious this way, before all the goodness has got into the greens. Whereas small seeds like radish, alfalfa, etc. are of course best as greens 

[Lesley]

Am I right in thinking the calories would be the same in a dried lentil versus a sprouted one? The energy can't just disappear so I guess it gets converted from one form of energy to another and of course becomes more digestible.

When it gets more sprouted, what makes it less nutrition that when the white tails first appear?

[AshaGrey]

Ive recently started sprouting (its sad how excited i got the first time it worked!!) and ive read different things about when its best to feed them, i thought they were more beneficial and nutrious just as the tails start to grow but most people seem to feed them when the tails are pretty long which if any is best? Also how long are they usually good to keep once ready?

[AshaGrey]

Sorry Irina i see youve already answered my first question

[lovebirds]

the reason why lentils and beans are best when they have just the tiny tails is because after that all the nutrients start going away into the growth of the plant and less is left in the actual plant. What I mean is to start a plant you don't need any soil, compost, etc. the plant gets all the energy from its seed, but as it grows and uses it up it needs added nutrients from compost or some other growing medium because it has used all the nutrients it had. So that is why it's more nutritious to eat them with just the little tiny tails, when all the anti-nutrients have been converted into nutrients or washed out, the starches have been converted into proteins and other beneficial compounds and the good stuff is still in that plant.
Micro-greens, like radish, mustard, broccoli, cress, alfalfa, etc. is a different matter because it's their baby leaves which are super rich in phytochemicals and flavonoids so we grow those until the green leaves appear.

As for the calorie value, gram for gram i would have thought they are lower in calories.
Looking at USDA food database. 100grams of raw dried mung beans contain 347 kcal,
100 grams of sprouted mung beans contain 30 Kcal, and 100g of cooked mung beans contain 105 kcal

[Lesley]

But does that comparison of the mung beans by weight work?

100 grams of raw mung beans would be a lot of mung beans.
Say its 100 mung beans.

One mung bean sprouted is heavier than a mung bean raw due to the water no?
So 100h of sprouted mung beans might be only 40 mung beans.
Similar for the cooked ones.

I just can't see the science behind a mung bean having a different amount of energy whether dry or sprouted.
e.g a fresh apple and a dried apple have the same number of calories, the problem is you tend to eat more of the dried apple because it is smaller and less filling.

BTW I'm not arguing with you I'm just interested. The energy doesn't go anywhere, just changes form. I guess some forms are more beneficial to us/parrots that others. That makes sense - thanks for the explanation  .

Sorry, this is all probably off topic!

[geffsgrey]

That is correct Lesley. Energy can be tranformed into another form, 2nd Law of Thermodynamics.

[Lesley]

and so a seed, with only water available can grow and change form but the overall energy content/value will be the same?

[geffsgrey]

No because some of the energy is tranformed to grow leaves which converts starch to sugars for growth or summat like that, anyway change in composition happens, similar to when food is cooked.

[lovebirds]

even if you are arguing with me it is not a problem  I really don't know about calories, i know what you mean about 100 grams of sprouted and 100 grams unsprouted is a very different amount. But I imagine that some of the starches are washed out, so that lowers the calories a bit, but I am not exactly sure how that process works, need to ask a biologist