lovesprouts

Making your living space into a space of love can be created with thought intention and dedication to action. Growing your own food is the most life enhancing experiences of the Earth. By using the materials that you have lying around your space the earth can be maintained as an optimal food forest.

buckwheat seeds sprinkled along the border makes an amazing cover crop

Interacting with your environment and being aware of nature brings the feeling of bliss.  Seeds are earths light. Keep on planting

Nutritionally, dried seeds, grains, and legumes provide only a small portion of the total nutrients the body requires. However, once they are sprouted, seeds provide the largest relative amounts of nutrients per unit of intake compared to other food sources. Sprouting multiplies the content of minerals and vitamins in the seed many times because a wealth of nutrients is released to aid the development of the seed during its growth process.

There is no doubt more nourishment contained in a plant’s sprout than at any other time in its life cycle. Often, new nutrients occur where there were none before. Vitamins A, B complex, C, and E are increased, sometimes as much as ten times!

Both the quantity and quality of the protein in most sprouts are dramatically increased. New amino acids form as the seeds sprout, resulting in increased digestibility. Sprouts are biogenic—alive and capable of transferring their life energy to your body. They contain enzymes which aid in digestion of foods, provide a good source of fiber, and slow the aging process. They are also an excellent multipurpose vegetable. Using sprouts greatly increases vitamin content of dishes, provides a ―live‖ food, and in general supports better health for the body. To add to all of their nutritional plusses, untreated and organic sprouts are free of pesticides and are pest-free, too.

How to Grow Fresh Organic Vegetables Year-Round In Your Own Kitchen Garden Easily, Quickly and inexpensively

BASIC SEED SPROUTER –– Generally, the only equipment needed for sprouting can easily be found in your home.  Glass jar, Piece of shade cloth, mosquito mesh or pantyhose top—any clean, durable fabric  Strong rubber band;  Sprouts require no fertilizer. All that’s required is some moisture, some air, a small place in a kitchen cabinet, a small spot on the windowsill, an occasional rinse during the day––and you have rich, nutrient-dense food at very low cost.

* Place measured amount of seeds in jar that is half-full of room temperature water.

* Secure mesh (or nylon fabric) over the mouth of the jar with the rubber band (or jar ring).

* Soak 4–8 hours, the smaller the seed the shorter the soakng time

*Then drain seeds well by turning bottle upside-down. Leave it angled to one side in the sink or dish drainer for a few minutes. *Rinse them with room clean water, Allow to drain once more, and then place in kitchen cabinet, on the counter, or in the window covered with a dark towel so germination may begin.

*Drain and rinse seeds 2 times each day, always draining well to prevent souring of sprouts.

* When sprouts attain desired length, eat the whole thing—seed, sprout, and roots—for a healthier meal or snack.  Store unused sprouts in refrigerator to retard further growth. Sprouts generally achieve peak palatability, highest vitamin content, and potency within 2–3 days.

*We recommend growing alalfa, red clover(6 days) as well as all beans, lentils and peas(1-2 days) in glass jars

Growing in Trays:

Soak seeds in water for 8 hours. Just before the end of the soaking period prepare a 20 x 10 inch seed tray (of around 2 inches depth) by adding about 11/2 inches of moist coconut fiber. After soaking, drain the seeds, rinse thoroughly and then drain the seeds again.

Spread the seeds evenly over the coconut fibre.  Water seeds using a watering can with a rose so as to give an even distribution of water. Your soil mix should be moist but not sodden. It is vital to keep your soil moist whilst the sprouts are growing. You should then cover the tray either with moist newspaper, another tray, or plastic bubble wrap. This covering helps to keep the moisture in.

After 3 days the sprouts should be a couple of inches in height. You can then remove the cover off the tray and place the tray in a position where they will receive good amounts of indirect sunlight. You should not place in direct sunlight as this can cause drying out of the soil which inhibits growth. The sunlight will enable the sprout to produce chlorophyll which will quickly transform the yellow wheatgrass sprouts to a vivid green colour.

You should harvest when the sprouts are about 7-8 inches in length as this is when it is at it’s nutritional peak. To harvest your sprouts simply trim a centimeter or two above the soil surface with a pair of scissors.

We suggest growing your sunflower, wheatgrass, barley grass, whole pea shoots, onion, beet, broccoli, etc. In trays

Use Sprouts in your stir-frys, add to mashed potatoes, sautéed or steamed vegetables, serve with rice or in soups. Put them threw your juicer and make a powerful green healing juice!

Substitute 1 C. sprouts in any bread or flour recipe for 1/2 C. flour and 1/2 C. liquid.

Eat sprouts fresh and uncooked for a taste treat. Create your own combinations. Get creative with sprouts, and you’ll certainly be healthier and less harassed in preparing nutritious meals. Use sprouts as a substitute for lettuce altogether in your favorite salad. Coleslaw –– Substitute chopped cabbage sprouts for cabbage. For a different taste, add some radish sprouts! Potato salad –– Add alfalfa, lentil, mung, or radish sprouts to ―liven up‖ your potato salad recipe. Improve the flavor and nutrition of your favorite sandwich by adding sprouts. Try these additions to your diet: Lettuce substitute: Use any sprout or combination of sprouts to replace lettuce––alfalfa, chia, clover, lentil, mung, or radish. Avocado (mashed): Spread thickly on fresh, home-baked whole-wheat bread. Top with alfalfa, barley, clover, or chia sprouts.

Wheatgrass is one of nature’s most powerful medicines.  It regenerates and restores your body. We are big supporters of wheatgrass and try to drink at a 30ml shot of it everyday. We give it to our baby, apply it to our skin, put it on our cuts and bruises, and can even be taken as a enema.

Jamah has come up with a great way to use the pulp of the wheatgrass after it has been jucied. He purifies his drinking water but placing it in the jug of spring water and letting it rest for a hour or so.  It add nutrients to water and kills off all the bad stuff!

I have Copied the Benefits of Wheatgrass for you from Hippocrates institude website. Where they run a healing program that was started by Ann Wigmore in 1956. For more information visit there website at: http://www.hippocratesinst.org/benefits-of-wheatgrass

“Benefits of Wheatgrass

WHEATGRASS JUICE…

Increases red blood-cell count and lowers blood pressure. It cleanses the blood, organs and gastrointestinal tract of debris. Wheatgrass also stimulates metabolism and the body’s enzyme systems by enriching the blood. It also aids in reducing blood pressure by dilating the blood pathways throughout the body.

Stimulates the thyroid gland, correcting obesity, indigestion, and a host of other complaints.

Restores alkalinity to the blood. The juice’s abundance of alkaline minerals helps reduce over-acidity in the blood. It can be used to relieve many internal pains, and has been used successfully to treat peptic ulcers, ulcerative colitis, constipation, diarrhea, and other complaints of the gastrointestinal tract.

Is a powerful detoxifier, and liver and blood protector. The enzymes and amino acids found in wheatgrass can protect us from carcinogens like no other food or medicine. It strengthens our cells, detoxifies the liver and bloodstream, and chemically neutralizes environmental pollutants.

Fights tumors and neutralizes toxins. Recent studies show that wheatgrass juice has a powerful ability to fight tumors without the usual toxicity of drugs that also inhibit cell-destroying agents. The many active compounds found in grass juice cleanse the blood and neutralize and digest toxins in our cells.

Contains beneficial enzymes. Whether you have a cut finger you want to heal or you desire to lose five pounds…enzymes must do the actual work. The life and abilities of the enzymes found naturally in our bodies can be extended if we help them from the outside by adding exogenous enzymes, like the ones found in wheatgrass juice. Don’t cook it. We can only get the benefits of the many enzymes found in grass by eating it uncooked. Cooking destroys 100 percent of the enzymes in food.

Has remarkable similarity to our own blood. The second important nutritional aspect of chlorophyll is its remarkable similarity to hemoglobin, the compound that carries oxygen in the blood. Dr. Yoshihide Hagiwara, president of the Hagiwara Institute of Health in Japan, is a leading advocate for the use of grass as food and medicine. He reasons that since chlorophyll is soluble in fat particles, and fat particles are absorbed directly into the blood via the lymphatic system, that chlorophyll can also be absorbed in this way. In other words, when the “blood” of plants is absorbed in humans it is transformed into human blood, which transports nutrients to every cell of the body.

When used as a rectal implant, reverses damage from inside the lower bowel. An implant is a small amount of juice held in the lower bowel for about 20 minutes. In the case of illness, wheatgrass implants stimulate a rapid cleansing of the lower bowel and draw out accumulations of debris.

Externally applied to the skin can help eliminate itching almost immediately.

Will soothe sunburned skin and act as a disinfectant. Rubbed into the scalp before a shampoo, it will help mend damaged hair and alleviate itchy, scaly, scalp conditions.

Is soothing and healing for cuts, burns, scrapes, rashes, poison ivy, athlete’s foot, insect bites, boils, sores, open ulcers, tumors, and so on. Use as a poultice and replace every two to four hours.

Works as a sleep aide. Merely place a tray of living wheatgrass near the head of your bed. It will enhance the oxygen in the air and generate healthful negative ions to help you sleep more soundly.

Enhances your bath. Add some to your bath water and settle in for a nice, long soak.

Sweetens the breath and firms up and tightens gums. Just gargle with the juice.

Neutralizes toxic substances like cadmium, nicotine, strontium, mercury, and polyvinyl chloride.

Offers the benefits of a liquid oxygen transfusion since the juice contains liquid oxygen. Oxygen is vital to many body processes: it stimulates digestion (the oxidation of food), promotes clearer thinking (the brain utilizes 25% of the body’s oxygen supply), and protects the blood against anaerobic bacteria. Cancer cells cannot exist in the presence of oxygen.

Turns gray hair to its natural color again and greatly increases energy levels when consumed daily.

Is a beauty treatment that slows down the aging process when the juice is consumed. Wheatgrass will cleanse your blood and help rejuvenate aging cells, slowing the aging process way down, making you feel more alive right away. It will help tighten loose and sagging skin.

Lessens the effects of radiation. One enzyme found in wheatgrass, SOD, lessens the effects of radiation and acts as an anti-inflammatory compound that may prevent cellular damage following heart attacks or exposure to irritants.

Restores fertility and promotes youthfulness.

Can double your red blood cell count just by soaking in it. Renowned nutritionist Dr. Bernard Jensen found that no other blood builders are superior to green juices and wheatgrass. In his book Health Magic Through Chlorophyll from Living Plant Life he mentions several cases where he was able to double the red blood cell count in a matter of days merely by having patients soak in a chlorophyll-water bath. Blood building results occur even more rapidly when patients drink green juices and wheatgrass regularly.”

“Of all the known breads, the simplest and possibly the most nutritious is Essene whole grain bread. An ancient recipe for this unusual loaf appears in the first century Aramaic manuscript entitled The Essene Gospel of Peace(from which the bread derives its name).”

It is made by:

-sprouting your wheat berries for 2 days  until the tail of the sprout is as long as the berry(sprouting wheat seeds: place your wheat seeds in a large glass container with lots of extra room as they will more then triple in size, soak the wheat seeds for about 12 hours. Drain the berries in a colander, cover the colander with a plate to prevent the berries from drying out, and set it in a place away from light and where the sun won’t shine on it. Rinse the berries about 2 times a day

-then grind the sprouted berries into a dough( we use a manual food grinder)

- After grinding, dump the mushed up grain onto a clean work surface. Squeeze and knead the grain for about 10 minutes, and then make into loaves with your hands. Coat the bottom of the loaves with flax seeds, sesame seeds or corn mill, so they don’t stick to the sheet.

-dehydrating for 7-12 hours or bake your loaves in the oven at a very low temperature for 2- 4 hours

-you can add sea salt and spices, molasses, honey, raisons, nuts or seeds to add variety to your breads

This bread is gluten-free, whole grain and a raw living food!!! The best way to eat bread

It was Coffee Season in Port st. John’s. So Jamah went and picked some red berries off the beautiful coffee trees in Gail’s garden. Just wanted to share this with anyone wondering how coffee gets processed and how to get the best cup of coffee!!!

I have been leading a natural life in on organic farms and travelling all around South Africa for the past 12 years. I
met my love of my life in 2009. She then introduced me to sprouts and
superfoods.  We still travel around a lot and
this diet is the best way to get fresh organic live foods all year round where ever
you are. This year we have been marketing our sprouts, dehydrated foods,
juices,  and kombucha at the showgeni market in durban, then we moved to Port st.
john’s and did the market there focusing mainly on citrus juice as it was
citrus season with tons of fresh organic grapefruits,oranges, lemons and sprouts to be
juiced. My wife and baby boy have now travelled to Canada to visit her family.
I am now in Nature’s valley South Africa. I ran a workshop of growing your own
sprouts last Saturday and was very pleased with the results.  We are all about spreading our love of fresh organic
foods with lovely people and hope to see the movement of growing your own food
grow and grow!!!