waiting for forever

Does anyone remember back in September that I blogged about finally managing to sprout an avocado? Well, the story of how that ended up is a little bit sad. After trying for months to sprout an avocado seed, I enthusiastically placed the sprout outside in a nice big pot that was purchased especially for the occasion. Imagine my surprise when after just a couple of days, a squirrel dug up my beautiful seed and attacked it viciously! There was no chance to save it, as it was cracked in half completely.

Although the setback was quite depressing, I did not give up! For the last half year period, I prepared every avocado I ate--which ended up numbering quite a few! The fact that it was winter, and therefore cold and dry even around the house, did not help my cause, I suspect. However, Adam had the bright idea to put a seed in the bathroom, at least every time someone took a shower.

Low and behold, I have finally attained another sprout! I planted the seed and taproot into the soil, and after a week or two, the sprout emerged from the top. From what I understand, my most difficult days are behind me, and now the tree should grow easily and quickly. This one is staying inside, away from pesky squirrels and other animals, at least until it is much more mature. It is growing rapidly: it is already a few inches higher than in the picture. Of course, it can be 20 years until I get an avocado fruit, but for me, it was all about the sprout!

the best burgers, made even better

In addition to sprouting baby plants, I have found a new way to explore my hobby: sprouting just to eat! This is again a remnant of our holiday trip to Oregon: what a great adventure that was for my planting! The first thing you need to start sprouting your own food is a clear mason jar with a "sprout lid". This is a special lid with tiny holes poked all in it. Since we had procured a jar and several varieties of sprouts in Oregon, I went to online to amazon.com and ordered the lid. I mean, can't argue with free 2-day shipping, right? Once we returned home, I was so excited to get some sprouts started.

I checked my amazon.com account while still in Oregon, and it said that the lid had been delivered, but upon arrival in Nashville, we could not find it. After checking in the bushes, with the neighbor, and the petsitter, I complained to amazon, and they sent another one along. Spring has finally sprung here in Nashville, about one week ago, but at the time of all this, it was cold, dead winter. The sprouting really helped!

You take the dried seeds, and place a couple of spoonfulls into the jar. Cover them with water, and let them sit overnight to start. Then it is just a matter of rinsing 3 times a day in the sink, and after a week or so, you got some lovely sprouts growing.
It is so fun to watch the volume increase every day until the jar is just full to the brim. I have sprouted 3 kinds of edibles: mung beans (for pad thai), alfalfa (for salads or burgers), and "crunchy mix". This is a mix of green peas, lentils, and azuki beans. The key to a good crunchy mix is to sprout them just enough--a sprout should poke out of each seed, but not grow very long. The best is when they are a little crunchy! So just a couple of days on this particular delicacy.

What I loved about eating the alfalfa sprouts was that we had them with our "best burger in the world" recipe and some homemade beer! It doesn't get much better than this! By the way, are you wondering at all about amazon's mis-delivery? After the snow melted, I went back into the bushes; I got way up in there...and I found the first lid! So now we have the possibility of double sprouting...all the way!