June 24th, 2008 -- Posted in Water Saving, animals, gobbolino, indoors |
I’ve been struck down with a winter virus - and have spent most of today in bed. Consequently, I’m not up to a long post - so I thought I’d share an interesting discovery with you all instead.
I found last week that the shower bucket seems to have an alternate use in this household…
Now, this didn’t really surprise me, as Goblin has been drinking out of showers since he was a kitten. No matter where we’ve lived - I’ll always catch him drinking water out of the shower recess! I have no idea why - maybe the water is fresher, maybe it feels more like drinking out of a pond… does anyone else have a cat that does this?!
Wishing you all good health - it’s always when you’re sick that you really appreciate it 
June 14th, 2008 -- Posted in garden, indoors |
I have just polished off a midnight snack of Cruskits, topped with avocado, Dijon mustard, cheese, and sprouts. Lovely, yummy, lentil sprouts, to be exact.
And it got me to thinking - there is surely not a simpler, space-and-time saving method of growing fresh nutrients than sprouts. I have them in salads, sandwiches, as a snack… they are tasty and versatile. And anyone can grow them. As long as you have a window, and a jar, all you need are seeds and water and you’re on your way.
Here are my some of my lentils, in their dormant state:
Do they look a bit boring? What?? Who said that - the essence of all life, boring? I don’t think so…
And, after a few days of soaking, rinsing, draining, and a little kitchen-bench sunlight, we have the ‘finished’ product:
This is my sprouting jar that I bought from Mrs. Flannery’s (an organic grocery chain in Queensland). But, while it is cool, it’s unnecessary to the process - all you really need is any old jar with a bit of Chux held over the top with a rubber band.
These were soaked overnight, then rinsed twice a day for about three or four days (can’t quite remember…) and you can see the roots quite clearly, as well as the little leaves starting to appear:
Just look a them… yummy.. I usually sprout Mung beans, but I wanted to try lentils, and I have to hazard to say I may just possibly like them more.
Now, lentils and mung beans are really cheap to buy in bulk. For lentils, you can get them in a big bag from any supermarket for a few dollars, and mung beans can be bought from a good organic grocer, or often a health food store.
Nick and I tried an experiment a few months ago - we actually planted some of our mung beans to see how productive a plant would be. We got about a good full hand full of seeds from about 6 planted, so not bad - it might be something we do on a bigger scale one day. But in the meantime, I’ll just buy the seeds in bulk.
Oh, also, you can buy them through companies like Eden Seeds - and if you haven’t checked them out already - go, go now! (If you’re an Aussie, that is). They are my favourite heirloom seed providers, and I love looking dreamily over their catalogue and planning my future garden.
So, in short, if you’re not sprouting - why not?!
