I'm starting to acquire seeds for sprouting and notice the price difference is astronomical vs. regular seeds (organically grown or not). But the price would seem worth it if: the germination rate is much better; the seeds are untreated; and the supplier has picked for you which variety is best for sprouts (not leaving it to chance).

Some years ago, I used to sprout regular seeds and beans and had very good luck with almost all of them without paying special prices for "sprouting seeds". (Of course, some seeds are unavailable except as sprouting seeds - such as alfalfa and mung beans).

Your experiences?

-- Debbie (dbspence@usa.net), March 31, 1999

Answers

Be very careful here...some seeds designated for growing are treated with captan or some other fungicide...I would worry that they are not correctly labeled, even though in most cases they say they have been treated.

What you could do is go to a place like Bob's Red Mill, (503) 654-3215 and order whole seeds like wheat, oats, barley, and alfalfa, and flax and whatever else, and sprout those. those seeds are meant for human consumption.

Otherwise....Johnny';s had sprouting seeds, and they seemed reasonable,

Also mung beans from the oriental foods sction of the grocery store are what turn into bean sprouts.

Remember that one teaspoon of alfalfa will fill a whole quart jar when it is ready to eat....so they go a long way.

Or....grow your own...this year: Rapeseed, radish, broccoli, turnip, ....not tomato.

does this help?

Mary

-- Mary (CAgdma@home.com), March 31, 1999.

Bob's Red Mill is the best place to get sprouting seeds. Go there frequently, excellent product and service. Green peas, alfalfa, sunflower, triticale, quinoa, baby lentil, mung, adzuki, soybeans, kamut, etc.

http://www.sproutman.com

-- sprouting (healthy@live.foods), March 31, 1999.

I've dealt with Sproutpeople

Fast service, incredible selection & very good prices. How's that for a recommendation?

-- Bingo1 (howe9@pop.shentel.net), March 31, 1999.

In both Atlanta and Cincinnati many Kroger's supermarkets carry Bob's Red Mill products. Here in Atlanta I've seen extensive displays in Publix stores and in the large "farmer's markets".

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), April 01, 1999.

I found a real good deal at the local grain mill. They sell 25 pounds of dried peas, garbanzo beans, small lima beans and legumes, all for $7 per 25 pound bag! I sprouted all four and they taste delicious. We even put them in our salads! A sprouted seed is like taking a "LIVE" vitamin.

During Y2K many people will have bad health from eating nothing but cannned food! If you value your health, buy these four items and also sprouting seeds. A handfull of sprouts a day, keep the doctors away!!! You MUST keep your health a #1 priority during Y2K!!!

-- old sailor (oldsailor@aol.com), April 01, 1999.

Please store extra water for sprouting seeds--you need to change the water twice a day.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), April 01, 1999.

sprouting seeds are basically just seeds that most definitely have not been treated

-- anita (hillsidefarm@drbs.com), April 01, 1999.

Wow I never thought about sprouting quinoa,...cool! How about amaranth?

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), April 01, 1999.

Seem to hear good things about Bob's Red Mill all the time, so I ordered a catalog!

Old Git: I just acquired "Biosta" sprouters, in which the directions say to rinse 1x/day for large seeds (beans) and less often for smaller seeds. Musta lucked out here. I do like the design, it's a round, triple-decker sort of "sprout hotel". We are going to have to get very creative with water.

Bingo: Right you are, Sproutpeople has an amazing selection (every web page says "Eat Sprouts!!!" in case you forgot why you went there) and for most comparisons I did, the best prices in quantity. Next best prices, Johnny's. Sooo.... to distill the wisdom here, what I will do is to get mostly the "sprouting seeds" but try sprouting others too, as long as organically grown and meant for food, not growing. If a batch does well then I'll stock up more of it.

Just for the record, here are some other sites for sprouts

http://www.tlchub.com/sprouts/ (ordered a kit from them)
http://www.hischaracter.com/foods.htm

-- Debbie (dbspence@usa.net), April 01, 1999.

Thanks, Debbie & all. We eat sprouts from Bob's Red Mill stock. Yummie, lotsa live enzymes. So far everything we've bought there quickens with life well and fast. We put many sprouts on salad and in soup after the soup has cooled a bit. We're increasing our sprouting each day as we intend to get thru Y2K and beyond with no heating/cooking. Sprouts are the way to go!

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-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), April 03, 1999.