The Art of Growing Microgreens

[oakley]

Durgan. Just saw your bread post.
I make one as well and ended up making my own recipe. Starting with a Biga, and
soak mixed grains/beans/seeds overnight. I call it 'Barnyard Rye'.
A version where just tiny tail sprouts are showing after a few rinses, 12-16 hours.

Sprouted grain breads are so good aren't they? Freeze well also.

(i usually use four small loaf pans)

[akgardengirl]

That's an interesting loaf pan Oakley. All your food is so photogenic. Did you write down your recipe for the sprouted rye? It's my favorite.
Sue

[Durgan]

I only eat a thick slice each day of the sprouted whole wheat bread. It is extremely nourishing and filling. I freeze the loaves and keep the one I am using in the refrigerator. I also grind my own flour since I have a flourmill.

[MuddyToes]

Originally Posted by oakley

Lots of pea and sunflower shoots. Definitely like the DwarfGrey pea over all others. Much more tender and twice as tall...starting another tray.

Muddy, congrats on your shoots. We don't have a Sticky 'picture test' post. Usually that
would be a place to test try a device or new phone, then someone comes along and helps.
My iPod does that also. I just send it to myself then toss it on my desktop. Upload from
there.

Or i rotate it up-side down, then send.

I may have it figured out now. The camera is on my iPad. I think the key is to have the home button on the right before I launch the camera app. I tried rotating the image before uploading but that didn't help. I read that Apple imbeds some kind of marker on the image. Not being software savvy, I'm not sure what that means. But I think I know what to do now.

Back to sprouts: I sometimes sprout my grains before making flatbreads or pizza crust. I use a blender to "grind" the wet grain then dump the slurry into my kitchenaid mixer, add dry semolina and a little unbleached white flour to get to a bread consistency.

I do the same for making pancake batter but add buttermilk to the wet grain to keep the blender from seizing up. Then I add the eggs, butter, and baking soda.

I don't eat a lot of wheat (my body doesn't handle the carb load in my old age). But when I do, I like fresh whole grains. I find flat breads easier to work with in my oven and they freeze better, too. I just pat the dough into small rounds and plop them onto a hot pizza stone. They are done in a few minutes.

What I really want is an outdoor pizza oven so that I can enjoy fresh bread without heating up the kitchen in the summertime.

[MuddyToes]

Oakley, I just received a pound of dwarf gray peas from Johnnies. Looking forward to starting another batch. I really enjoyed the sunnies, too. I ordered a pound of that as well. It should last me a good long time. The shoots will help "beef up" my salads this summer when my lettuce bolts and it gets too hot to germinate any more lettuce seeds.

[MuddyToes]

Originally Posted by akgardengirl

That's an interesting loaf pan Oakley. All your food is so photogenic. Did you write down your recipe for the sprouted rye? It's my favorite.
Sue

Agreed. The pix look scrumptious. I'd like to know how you make the Biga. What kind of yeast do you use? Do you add some sugar to feed the yeast? I've done sourdough starter but it's not worth the effort and expense of feeding it for the small amount of bread our family eats.

[NewWestGardener]

Why sprouted grains?

[oakley]

Originally Posted by NewWestGardener

Why sprouted grains?

Sprouted grains, like sprouts, or any seed, bean, grain,...becomes a plant once sprouted.
Even if just the seed soaked for a while is no longer its grain cell...it has sprouted and now has become a plant. Once a plant, even small, is easier for many to digest as it is now
a plant and not it's dried grain/seed/bean form. Many sensitive to grain can eat sprouted grain breads without issue.
I fortunately have no food sensitivity issues at all. Just getting more whole grain and other grains than just white rice. A variety to avoid any future gastric issues as so many have.
Why micro greens I've been growing are right in my home and fresh and once over the
mini expense are so good and fresh it is a no brainer for us.

My sprouted grain bread is just not healthy but really good.

[oakley]

Originally Posted by MuddyToes

Oakley, I just received a pound of dwarf gray peas from Johnnies. Looking forward to starting another batch. I really enjoyed the sunnies, too. I ordered a pound of that as well. It should last me a good long time. The shoots will help "beef up" my salads this summer when my lettuce bolts and it gets too hot to germinate any more lettuce seeds.

I agree that salads can be grown year round having a simple system. I do grow salad all
summer in the garden with a shade frame...but i bet my micros will be my best crop
right downstairs. Hot climates no longer should rely on grocery salad once an easy system
is figured out.

[oakley]

Bug me later about the recipe...i'm massively multi-tasking with the snow storm...
in a good way...no massive damage or power loss ....just beauty. Checking on elder neighbors and shoveling.

[oakley]

Originally Posted by akgardengirl

That's an interesting loaf pan Oakley. All your food is so photogenic. Did you write down your recipe for the sprouted rye? It's my favorite.
Sue

I have a wood fired cook stove with a steel plate top like a French top. Slide things around.
heat is where you slide this and that....simmer front right, boil middle front left....

The triangle pan is a local/native mystery. But clearly a design to get even heat in an unconventional
oven like mine.
This is my second home in Newfoundland. I'm in NY now.

[oakley]

Yes , i have good recipe directions that i made for my Dad. (he loves this bread)...and he is challenged 89 yrs old, but still alert reading philosophy.
Just need to find it...

[Gardeneer]

I did not have the room and the apparatus to grow MICRO greens indoor. Now that weather is improving
in my location, I am growing MACRO greens. Salad greens are germinating in the cold frame. Tomorrow I will direct sow radish and spinach. Chives are growing already.

[creeker]

This is a great thread, am so much I want to try the techniques spelled out here. Mostly I'm subscribing to this thread so I can go back and re-read the whole thing when I want to.

[Deborah]

I just thought of something. Wouldn't they be great in omelets?