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What to do when your crop is done!
More Sprout Storage Info
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Sprout School & Shop Sprouting Seed Info Center
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My crop is done, what do I do now?
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Peak Fresh (Green) 10 bags per "box" Bags are re-usable. |
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| These bags are amazing! We have tested sprouts, fruits and veges. We had Cilantro in one of these bags for a month! Plastic bags will still do for storing your sprouts, but if you want the best - for every sprout, fruit and vegetable - try these! You know us, we don't sell stuff just to sell it - these really are awesome. The bags is widely reviewed (positively), and like we said above - our personal experience is great, so we think it is a good bet you'll be happy with them. The manufacturer says: Most fruit and vegetables release ethylene gas after harvest. Exposure of the produce to the gas accelerates aging and ultimate deterioration. PEAKfresh ® Produce Bags remove ethylene gas to prolong the life and freshness of the produce. Unlike ordinary plastic bags, PEAKfresh ® Produce Bags 'breathe' so that damaging gases produced by the fresh produce are removed. PEAKfresh® bags are USA FDA approved, comply with current EU Directives and approved by Swiss, Austrian, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand Authorities. All PEAKfresh® mineral impregnated bags are certified for packaging organically grown produce (International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements ) 1. Home Gardeners: pre-cool freshly harvested produce in refrigerator for a couple of hours before storage in PEAKfresh ® Produce Bags. 2. Produce to be stored should be fresh and undamaged. 3. Use a separate bag for each type of produce. Produce must be dry. 4. Expel air from the bag and close it using the enclosed ties and store in refrigerator. 5. Storage of mushrooms and ripe bananas in PEAKfresh ® Produce Bags for more than a few days is not recommended. Do not store whole pumpkin or onions. Mushrooms should be stored in a paper bag and then into a PEAKfresh ® bag for added freshness. 6. Wash and dry bag thoroughly before re-use. Bags can be re-used for up to two months. |
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Eat More Sprouts + Grow More Often!
Before moving your sprouts to that big cool box in your kitchen, they should be dry to the touch. In most cases we let our sprouts sit for 8-12 hours after their final rinse, and extremely thorough drain before we refrigerate them, but if our salad spinner can contain them, we use it. Another option for centrifugal drying is the Hemp Bag because it is easy and fun to swing around - though you should do it outside unless your trying to show your kids a good time.
There is no quicker way to kill produce than to refrigerate it wet, so make sure that your sprouts are reasonably dry before you refrigerate them.
You can transfer them to a plastic bag, use a special produce bag or use your sprouter for storage, or you can use a glass or plastic container. The Easy Sprout is an excellent storage vessel for any sprout - and any vegetable as well.
We almost always seal our sprouts - we do not let them "breathe" - that just drys them out. But If your sprouts are wetter than you think they should be, or they are warm when you refrigerate them, go ahead and punch a few holes in the bag - it won't hurt in that case and it may help a lot. Once they are cool and dry you can seal them in a new bag or another container.
Your home grown sprouts should easily keep for weeks (depending on the type of sprout) in the refrigerator.
Harvest your Greens
Cut your Greens off at "soil" level with a nice sharp scissors or knife. Put them in a plastic bag - or something else if you like - and refrigerate them. Do not refrigerate them wet - they will perish in less time than sprouts!
As a rule you water your Greens at least 12 hours before cutting and likely more like 24 hours, so they won't be wet. If you've grown a sparse crop you won't have to wait as long.
The Greens to be cautious about as regards dampness are, Micro-Greens, Mesculin Sprout Garden and Buckwheat Lettuce. These are all fine, tender plants that are more water than plant matter. You will rarely have a problem with Greens like Sunflower or Pea Shoots.
So - you cut your dry but internally moist Greens off and refrigerate them. The Pea Shoots will last for many weeks. The Sunflower and Buckwheat Lettuce and all the rest will go limp after 7-10 days and though they'll still taste good you'll miss their terrific texture. These are really a gourmet item - so treat them as such.
Eat More Greens + Grow More Often!
Cut Your Grass
Grass will never be wet unless you water it right before harvest. Just cut it off close to the soil and either refrigerate it or even better: Juice it Fresh.
Grass really should be juiced while fresh - it tastes better and common sense tells us that it is more nutritious.
Drink Your Grass + Grow More Often!
If you are traveling you need to either eat your sprouts and skip storage or you can use some ice. Be careful not to freeze the sprouts - the little ones are especially easy to freeze. Since cool air falls you can put your sprouts - in a bag - on the bottom of a container (like an ice bucket), cover the bag with a few layers of newspaper or the like and put ice on top of that.
You can refrigerate your still planted grass or greens - but they will dry quite quickly, so plan on watering them daily to keep them happy and hearty.
We do not have any information to speak of on freezing sprouts. We have been growing fresh sprouts since 1993, so we never have a shortage of fresh sprouts - so why bother freezing them? Obviously small, thin sprouts will be pretty pathetic if frozen, so if you must - freeze bean sprouts - but plan on cooking them - their texture will be less than crunchy.
The Basics of Sprouting:
- Seed Storage: Keeping your dormant seeds happy.
- Soaking: Turning a dormant seed into a nutritional powerhouse.
- Rinsing: Water is the key ingredient in sprouts. Use it liberally.
- Draining: It is essential that sprouts be drained thoroughly after rinsing. Sitting in a puddle is the most common cause of crop failure.
- Air Circulation: If your sprouts can’t breathe while growing - they can die. Don’t put them in a closed cabinet.
- Greening: Photosynthesis is cool, and so is Chlorophyll, but not all sprouts are into it, nor is it necessary. Sprouts of all colors are packed with flavor and nutrition!
- Cleanliness: Your seed should be clean and your sprouting device should be sterile. Wash your sprouter well between crops with dilute bleach (1 Tbs. of bleach per pint of water is plenty).
- Storage: Properly stored, fresh sprouts will keep for up to 6 weeks in your refrigerator but fresher is better. Never refrigerate wet sprouts.
- Eat More Sprouts! Grow More Often!
SPROUTPEOPLE®
170 Mendell St.
San Francisco, CA 94124
Toll Free:
877/777-6887
(877/SPROUTS)
We only use the phone for emergencies.
Back in 2001 we were still using the phone. One day I was talking to a long-time customer while pushing my (then 4 year old) daughter on the swing in our backyard (this is what a mom n' pop business is like on the internet). It dawned on me that my priorities were severely messed up, so I stopped using the phone. I love to talk and I love to help, but my family would never see me if I picked up the phone again, and that's just wrong don't you think?!
The very best way to contact us is through E-mail =:-)
We are quite fast and VERY thorough. We love to help.
We have been an internet only business since 2001. We are not a big corporation. We are but 2 people, Mom n' Pop Sprout. We decided after years of juggling our family's (kids, dogs, cats and even our own) needs, and the needs of Sproutpeople, that we had to make more time for our kids, so we stopped talking on the phone. All calls go to voice mail and have since 2001.
We are very fast to fill orders and answer e-mail, and though we wish we could make the time to talk, we just can't seem to get more minutes into a each hour. We are many years older than when we started and our days are too short and made up of too few hours to do everything. This limitation in our business has not kept us from pleasing our customers, nor from growing (as we have every year since 1993). We do what we do as well as we can, and we think we do it very well indeed.
We appreciate your patronage more than we can say. We ask that you use the phone for emergencies only and that you search our site for answers before e-mailing us. This site is bigger than any 4 sprout books put together, it is always available and it is free, and we know that almost all questions are answered here.
Thanks again for your support and your many kind words.
Sproutpeople