Sprouting is one of the easies things you can do to grow your own greens in any living arangment where you have indirect light. Mason jar sprouting is low maintenance.
They also say that sprouts contain 300 % more nutrients that the full grown plant because of the unique qualities of germination.
rawtherapy.blogspot.com was kind enough to post this image of a typical mason jar sprouting.
All you need is one clean mason jar, viable sprouting seeds, and some sort of fine mesh and rubber band. Put some sprouts in the jar and soak for 3-4 hours for quicker germination. Drain the sprouts in the sink and rinse with fresh water. Drain the sprouts again, and lean on a 45 degree angle. I find my dish drying rack works great.
Most types of sprouts prefer a morning rinse and an evening rinse. In 3-4 days you will have yummy sprouts. Let them dry and store in the fridge.
Some wonderful spouts can be found at thesproutpeople.com
I love their raw peanuts to sprout as well as their spicy mustard, cress, and radish blend.
They also sell sprouting trays and various other types of sprouting kits. My problem I have had with the trays, is the air circulation is limited and I have had hot and humid sprouts...which equals mold. You need some air circulation or the ability for them to dry out a bit during the day. I have also used a dip sprouting tray in Germany, which was great for gelatinous seeds like cress and alfalfa. These can be sprouted in a mason jar, but my Irish friends told me their moms used to sprout thee on a moist paper towel, and this seems to be the easiest low tech way.
Sunflower sprouts are also really easy to sprout at home, but because of their high nutrient demand, they do prefer a small amount of dirt. I use a propagator tray, but even a small plate with a lip to hold the dirt and water will work. It needs to be watered like a house plant, get it wet and let it dry...repeat. Do not kill it with too much water or you can get mold or bugs.p
Now onto the mushrooms!
I have an inoculated shitake mushroom log which I had purchased last fall online. It find it to be reliable and not to difficult to maintain. These are a bit more complicated than the mushroom kits, however they are supposed to produce yummy us grooms for up to 4 years. The mushroom kits last only a few weeks, and go out with a bang. They produce many mushrooms, but it is basically a pile of dirt and crap with wood ships and you spray is bag and fungi grows. I find it lacks some charm. "Oh, what's that?"
"That is a big pile of shit in a plastic bag that I"m growing mushrooms in."
Yum.
The trick with the logs is to shock it every 2 weeks in non-chlorinated ice water. You let the log soak for about 24 hrs, and then remove it and prop it up in an area where the humidity isn't too low. There also needs to be some variation of light in the room BUT... Do not put your log in over 80 degree temperatures or in the direct sun. Logs can also be left outside in a shady spot and mother nature can take over.
I use a clear rubbermaid container to soak the log, but I also stand the log up in the container and prop it up and leave the top on for the first few days after it has soaked. This was our first set of shiitakes. You cut the, at the base and ideally keep them in an old st,e mushroom jar. It has breathing holes and maintains the proper humidity which makes the mushrooms last 3 times as long in the fridge.
I consistently get mushrooms every 4 weeks, however I attempted to move the log to my basement hoping it would be better for maintaining humidy. The problem is I have a dehumidifier going down there and it's just to dry for happy mushrooms. I ended up getting dried, yet full grown shiitakes, which made a wonderful base for a Japanese miso/ seaweed soup. It wasn't wasted, just out of my hands at that point. This time I'm going to leave it upstairs, near the kitchen and bathroom.
I also inoculated my own logs from a rescued section of a 200 year old Brooklyn oak tree which was downed during hurricane Sandy. When making your own mushroom log, one needs to know that there are many rules about how old the log can be, if it has any other signs of bugs or fungus, and what type of wood it is for the type of incoculated, wooden dowel plugs. This is all over the Internet.
I actually biked my logs back from below Prospect Park. The tree owner's thought I was crazy, but hey, it's just a couple of logs. I will not pay for a cab for them. Back at the house, I drilled and pounded about 30 plugs in each log p; sealing any holes, or damaged bark with cheese wax. I used an ugly yellow wax, but hey... it was on sale. What is great, is that I had ordered blue oyster mushroom plugs, which are hard to find on a log. This is going to be fantastic for all sort so mushroom dishes. I love fried oyster mushrooms and mushroom pasta.
When comparing my shitake log and my new oyster mushroom log, I saw the shitake log only had about 9 plugs. This is a low count for what they recommend when making your own log. My new log is going to kick my old logs ass!
After the log makes all of its fungi for its lifetime, the log can be retired to the compost, firewood, or tuned into a mason bee house. The mushrooms need the sugars in the wood and a used log is no longer viable.
What did I learn?
The new fungi log was fun to make and I was able to give it to a good friend of mine for her birthday present. Now all she has to do is water it every 2 weeks and wait 3 months to see if the spores have taken over and the log will fruit. :)
She loves me but hates me for making her wait, but it will be a wonderful gift after she romances it with the correct amount of water and light wooing.
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