Do It Yourself Sprouter
A few weeks ago John made a trip out to the Honeyville outlet and came back with some really cool items. Number 10 cans of all kinds of dehydrated and freeze dried food preps as well as a cool little item for the sprouting crowd. It is a lid that fits onto the top of most glass jars and especially the Ball type of canning jar. It is basically a screw on lid that has a mesh top. This lid is made to allow you to use canning jars as sprouters. Very cool and very cheap. Well, I like me some cheap and I especially like some even cheaper. I decided to see how successful I could be with a homemade sprouting jar. Now before I get started understand that I love my Life Sprouts sprouting tray and I especially like the sprouting stock that they have available. However, the tray I purchased is a little pricey and is made to sprout a large amount of seeds. If you just need enough for a meal or two the jar method of sprouting is perfect. With that, onto the home made sprouting jar.
DIY Sprouting Jar made from canning jars and screen mesh
I took the concept of the ready made sprouting lid and made it from what I had around the house. A mason jar, a screw on canning top and a few inches of spare screen from a window project. I cut the screen in to a 5 x 5 inch square and washed it. I placed it on top of the jar and screwed the mason jar lid on top minus the canning top. I placed a tablespoon of alfalfa sprouts in one and a sprout mix in the other. I allowed the seeds to soak for six hours and drained them. After, I just rinsed and drained them 2-3 times a day. Boom, Sprouts in a homemade jar. All you need is a canning jar and some spare screen material. Have a look at our sprouting article for more details about the benefits of sprouting.
DIY Sprouting Kit
Sprouting is easy, fun and super good for your health. Add a little fresh greens to your food preps and you will have a meal experience that is a whole lot better than just eating reconstituted food. Get fresh, stay healthy and enjoy your meal. Don’t be afraid to add sprouts to your everyday meals as well.
Stay hungry my friends.
*Note from John: I decided to file this article under the Self Reliance category instead of Quick Tips because of how important fresh vegetables are for your nutrition. Yes, in an emergency we can live on MRE’s for extended periods, but as Adam mentioned above, nothing beats fresh vegetables especially when you’re mentally taxed from a disaster.
~ Adam, Modern Bushman
Love it. Thank you for sharing!!!
Tafi: thanks, when I discovered sprouting, I was absolutely thrilled! Something else I discovered was that if I can’t eat all the sprouts, I simply throw the remaining sprouts around the area of my chicken coop. As the sprouts grow into plants, the chickens tear them up! They love it, too!
I really like this idea… but had one quick question… Is there another type of mesh besides the window screen mesh (I just fear for the metal interaction with the sprouts). Is there a ‘food’ friendly mesh I could buy somewhere?
Thank you,
Carol
Carol: I’ve been looking. The closest thing I found was a jar sprouting kit, which is basically a plastic mesh lid that fits on a standard 1 quart Ball jar. They sell for about $3 at Honeyville and so far has been useful. You make one jar of sprouts at a time, the perfect amount to add to a salad or top your burgers with.
I hope this helps. If you find something, please let ME know.
What about the black solar screen mesh or even a few layers of tulle/fabric netting?
Melissa: since posting the article, I’ve used old nylon stockings, as well as a gardening mesh very similar to the black solar screen you mentioned. I think anything that is small enough to let the water out but keep the seeds in will work. Heck, just for fun, I’ve even sprouted on a folded paper towel.