Sprouting her first seeds: a photo diary

Sophia Cheng / 3 min read / Digital Nomad Days, Newbie Activist Life
5 November 2018
First timer has a go at sprouting her own seeds

Inspired by the Mothers of Invention podcast and facilitated by a timely trip to the Vegan Fair Tallinn I have just started sprouting my own seeds.
Ok, so if I’m being honest, I believe Dr Vandana Shiva is implying growing seeds in soil and nurturing a plant. That’s a little tricky as a digital nomad and a minimalist. But since I am in one spot for two months sprouting seeds seems like a viable entry point. I quite like the idea that digital nomads are travelling and supporting their diet by eating self-grown sprouts!

So I bought the BioSnacky jar germinator – you don’t need to do this. This great Treehugger article points out that it’s darn simple to do with some mesh cloth and elastic band. However, I’ve yet to find a good supply in Tallinn and I know myself well enough I need to capitalise quickly when a new idea takes root, so I paid €4.

I thought I would document my first foray into seed sprouting via a photo diary.
And yes, it does feel like a primary school science experiment. But I’m good with that.

Day 0

This is all the jar germinator is, a jar with an open air mesh. I bought some BioSnacky sprouts but I’m actually using mung bean sprouts that I’d bought a few days earlier.

Night 1

Added two spoons of mung bean sprouts.

And left to soak overnight (approx 10 hours)

Day 1

Drain and rinse the water out twice. I could see how much they had grown in size overnight.

The designated position of the jar.

End of day one.

Day 2

Rinse and drain water – then leave the jar at an angle 2/3 times per day. For 3 days for mung beans
This is what they’re looking like this morning!

They’re starting to sprout!

Day 3

Coming on nicely!

Day 4

It’s the evening and these lovely sprouts are ready to eat.
Into tuppaware and into the fridge for tonight’s stirfry!

Sprinkled a few on a cracker, delicious. Had much more flavour than beansprouts you’d pick up in the supermarket.

The perfect topping for a great veggie stirfry.

Conclusion

This is the first time I’ve grown sprouts and one of my first successful attempts at growing edible food. It was easy to do and fun to watch how quickly they grow. For a generation saturated on instant gratification – this might be the entry point to growing your own food.
And I suspect this could be a done while on the road. What do you think digital nomads?


Avatar photo Sophia Cheng With a decade of communications experience across the for profit and nonprofit sectors, agency and in-house, Sophia has made a habit of making ‘the hard stuff’ more accessible. Since 2018, she has reorientated her life around the climate crisis. She has forged her decade of communications experience into offering workshops, mentoring, blogging, and more, on the biggest issues of our time. View all posts
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