Sprouting is so easy, your kids can do it! With that in mind, let’s take a look into how to sprout some amazing, fresh, Spring time ingredients!
Ancient Chinese traditions advocate for 5 seasons throughout the year, each represented by an ‘element’: Summer = Fire, Late Summer = Earth, Autum = Metal, er = Water, and Spring = Wood!
The wood element represents new growth. It represents vitality. It represents transcendency, curiosity, and new ways of being. The wood element of Spring helps connect us to nature’s cycle of growth and destruction, and concerns itself with the flow of energy from the water and earth up toward the heavens. It is the green colour of nature reemerging after Winter and life springing forth from the soil!
You’ve heard the term ‘Spring Cleaning’? Well this is the time of year your body begins to cleanse itself of food residues, of excessive desires, and emotions of dissatisfaction, impatience, and anger. It is the time for a new vision for the next year, and giving rise to self-expression and self-awareness as a new you begins to sprout!
Ayurveda also describes Spring as the time for rapid movement and light eating of raw and sprouted foods.
Sprouting is the practice of growing your very own herbs and salads right on the windowsill in a short time frame! In Spring it is customary to enjoy young, fresh sprouts in meals and salads to encourage youthful vitality within, and the encourage us to connect to nature’s process of new growth this time of year. Sprouts also typically contain an abundance of nutrients compared to fully-grown vegetables, making them much more nutrient-dense ingredients to add to your meals for a better nutrition-to-calorie ratio!
DID YOU KNOW that Watercress has been designated THE MOST nutritious vegetable ever by the CDC!
This super-superfood was a staple in ancient Rome, Egypt, and Crete, for its multitude of benefits! The leaves are a mid-to-dark green colour, with a mild peppery taste, and you can eat both the leaves and stem together.
At a nutrient-to-weight ratio, watercress (or cress) is packed full of vitamins and minerals, including Vitamins A, C & K, folates, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and sodium!
It’s also rich in antioxidants, especially those great for eye health, protecting against blue light from our screens, and reducing the risk of macular degeneration and cataracts (what sensory organ is most active in Spring: eyes!)
Watercress’ vitamins and minerals help to protect the body against inflammation, osteoporosis, cancers, and chronic diseases, while lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, helping with weight loss, and can even enhance athletic performance!
If you want to know more, check out my posts on the benefits of watercress and 5 easy ways to incorporate watercress into your diet! …And the best part is, you can grow it at home so easily! So lets dive in to sprouting our very own watercress leaves:
Sprouting watercress is the easiest thing ever: all you need is 4 ingredients!
A glass container, jar, bowl, etc: This one I picked up from a dollar store for $12, but maybe you have a large jar or container at home already?
Rocks: either collect them from outside, or again, these cost me $4 from the local dollar store. Just make sure they are small enough pebbles for the roots to weave their way through, and always give them a good wash before using them.
Watercress: To sprout watercress, the easiest way is to buy a sleeve of cress with the roots intact. I picked up a bunch from Coles for $3.50 but you can buy organic or from the farmer’s market too.
Water: straight from the tap!
That’s it!
Put half the rocks in the bowl, followed by the cress. Try to spread the roots and stems out, like you would with flowers in a vase.
Then cover the roots with the remaining rocks and fill the water above the rock line!
Trim the leaves for your first meal, then in a matter of days, they’ll be back and ready again!
Just top the water up every few days, keeping it above the rock line, and you’ll have unlimited watercress growing right in your kitchen!
Watercress grows best in a semi-sunny location (like a windowsill or kitchen bench), and if you use it regularly, it won’t outgrow your bowl. If, however, the plant starts getting too big, you can always take some out, rehome it in another bowl/jar and continue the process!
So there you have it! For less than $20, you can have unlimited fresh watercress growing at home, packed with nutrients!
Did I mention it is the MOST nutritious vegetable you can eat? The benefits of watercress are outlined more in this post, while if you want to know how to eat it, check out my recipes below!
Once you’ve got a taste for sprouting, we can expand our skills to other vegetables like alfalfa, pea shoots, bean sprouts, chives, and many herbs. Watercress is only the beginning of our very own in-home natural pharmacy!
Let me know if you’ve grown anything else or would like another guide on growing a particular sprout or herb!
Happy sprouting Nutrx-sters!
5 Ways to incorporate WATERCRESS into your diet:
- Salads: an array of springtime salads are always made better with the addition of some cress leaves! Just snip of a small handful and mix them in for a load of nutritious benefits! I’ve to a recipe here for a Vietnamese pork salad that contains THREE sprouts: watercress, mung beans, and alfalfa!
- Sandwiches, wraps, etc: basically anywhere else you enjoy a salad, like on a sandwich or in a wrap, chuck some cress in there too adding next to no calories, but a whole host of vitamins and minerals!
- Watercress scrambled eggs
- In pasta sauce, pesto, and soups! You can add watercress to just about anything, but if you do, make sure to add it near the end of the coking process. Its nutrient content dwindles after being exposed to excessive heat.
- As a topping for baked potatoes, steak, or just about anything else! Watercress can be used as a garnish for just about any meal. Experiment and enjoy!
Let me know if you have another use for this wonderful springtime superfood!