Sprouts are eaten root and all - Green's roots are buried in something (soil or some moisture holding medium) so we don't eat them. Greens are just a plant which grows vertically and which we harvest by cutting it close to it's base.
We have grown Greens - on soil - in Trays, for years. But, we now have alternatives: Soilless mediums (Baby Blanket and Vermiculite) and organic liquid kelp fertilizer (Kelp Fertilizer). Baby Blanket is a thin organic material that holds moisture and in general acts much like soil. Vermiculite is an amazingly water retentive medium made by heat treating a unique mica. We think you should try them all; Vermiculite, Baby Blanket and soil if you can - there are differences and you may prefer one method over the other and the only way to know for sure is to try them all.
The most famous of the Greens is Sunflower. Often called Sunnys, they are a staple of Ann Wigmore's living diet - they are very nutritious (as is everything in sproutville), amazingly tasty, tender and beautiful too! Sunnys require a bit more work than other Greens, but they are well worth the effort.
Greens are a good deal different than Sprouts - they are really gorgeous, but they are a bit more work. For that reason we suggest that you start with Sprouts if you are new to all of this, but it's your life, don't let us push you around.
Many more seeds than are listed here can be grown into Greens. Among the obvious choices are Lentils and Garbanzos which both produce beautiful tasty plants. For now we just list those we have grown and sold for years, but as we always say - think for yourself. Experiment!
If you are looking for Micro-Greens come
visit our Micro-Greens page.
Whole. In Hull. These Greens which are often called Buckwheat Lettuce, are sprouted (as are almost all Greens) for a couple days (a 1/4 inch sprout is optimal), then planted on soil or similar medium, kept moist for 5 - 7 days to produce a very tender thin shoots with cute, and outragiously tender leaves and red tinged stems. Very easy to grow. A staple of Ann Wigmore's living sprout kitchen.
The trend on the gourmet side of the sprout industry is towards Baby Greens. Mesculin Mix Sprout Greens is a wonderful tasting combination with a great, light texture and striking visual appeal. It is a salad or a salad topping, a sandwich addition, a mix-in for pasta or anything else you can think of - and it is super nutritious as all live/raw foods are.
Grown from virtually any Pea variety, Shoots are the plant above the soil. They produce a robust, tender Shoot in 8 - 14 days (depending on your climate and time of year). Really excellent stir-fried quickly with some garlic and tamari (soy sauce) and (optionally) ginger.
Note: You can grow shoots from any pea. They all have different characteristics so experiment.
An exceptionally tasty and aromatic mix. A beautiful gourmet addition to salads - just scatter a small bunch on top. This one works well grown on soil or similiar medium, a thoroughly moistened Hemp Bag or the ultimate Micro-Greens device, the Miniature Garden.
Greens grown from Sunflowers are surprisingly delicious. If you you don't feel you know us well enough to believe it, just look under your bird feeder in summertime for a sorta thick stemmed plant about 4-6"" tall, with 2 leaves on top. Pick it off above the soil and eat it .....
You need certain things to grow Greens, so though we'd like you to look around our shop, we thought we'd list a few of those things (and combinations of those things - aka Kits) here for those of you who hate to browse or gotta get a move on). When growing Greens that require sprouting prior to planting it is helpful to have a Sprouter - so we've listed Jars + Screens here as they are sufficient and inexpensive. By all means feel free to browse our Sprouting Devices - there are many other choices.
Your basic wide-mouth one-quart mason jar. This is the most common sprouting device. We suggest that you buy either a Stainless Steel Screen lid or better yet a set of plastic lids which fit this jar better - to make your sprouting experience better.
This 1/2 gallon glass jar is twice the size of the standard 1 Quart Sprouting Jar. A tremendous addition to anyone's sprouting collection - it's just plain fun to have so much room to sprout in.
for Wide Mouth Mason Jars (Set of 3)
A set of 3 colorful plastic lids for wide mouth Mason Jars, with different mesh sizes. If growing small seeds, start with the fine screen and move up to the wider mesh as the sprouts grow to allow for better drainage, improved air circulation and to provide room for hulls to escape the sprouter. The rule of thumb is to use the largest mesh you can - as long as your sprouts stay in the jar you can't go wrong =;-D
for Wide Mouth Mason Jar
A Small Mesh, yellow, plastic, Screen Lid for wide mouth Mason Jars. If growing small seeds this is the lid to use. This is one of the 3 from the Sprout-Ease Econo-Sprouter set.
Our selection of black plastic ""nursery"" Trays is intended for use in growing soil based Grasses and Greens. We offer several sizes so that you can grow crops the way you want to.
All Trays have drainage (except the 11 x 22 inch Solid, Drip Tray).
Our Sizes: 5 x 5 inch - fit 8 per 11 x 22 inch Tray.
11 x 11 inch - fit 2 per 11 x 22 inch Tray.
11 x 22 inch - Solid (without drainage holes/slits), Drip Tray. Use this to hold whatever Growing Trays you decide on - to contain water runoff.
11 x 22 inch Growing Tray - Standard (light) weight plastic is fine for planting but better as a cover as they break relatively easily.
11 x 22 inch Growing Tray - Heavy Duty plastic is perfect for planting. These are expensive, but they are almost impossible to break under normal conditions, so they pay for themselves quickly.
Plastic Trays have "gone to the dogs" over the past 7 years! When we started back in 1993, our standard weight Trays lasted through 100 plantings! Nowadays the standard weight plastic lasts through maybe 10 plantings on average =:-O ..... The 5 inch trays are so flimsy that we have cut the price to 25¢ and suggest you think of them as disposeable - ouch - sorry Earth. We continue to search for better plastic, but for now this is the best we can get. The one bright spot is the Heavy Duty 11 x 22 inch Trays. They are the best planting trays we've ever used!
In any case - it is good to have a second Tray - use one as a cover for the one you're growing in - you should consider this for all Tray sizes as covers are essential in the early stages of growing. Read our Grass Growing or Greens Growing Instructions to get a better idea of what we're saying.
3 different options for the home grass/greens grower. All options include 1 (one) Solid (no drainage holes) 11 x 22 inch black plastic Drip Tray to be used as a container for the Growing Trays - so that muddy water will be contained. All options also contain a lid or lids which are the same size as the Growing Trays, so that you can cover them during the first few days after planting (to conserve moisture and achieve the desired humidity).
FYI: You can expect about 8 ounces of Grass Juice per 11 x 22 inches. Greens vary in weight: 11 x 22 inches will grow as much as 2.5 pounds of Sunnys, 2 pounds of Buckwheat, Mesculin Sprout Greens or Spicy Salad Greens, 1.5 pounds of Pea Shoots, Broccoli, Mustard, Arugula, Cress and any others unmentioned.
1) Single Crop: Growing Tray is Heavy Duty, Cover is Lighter Duty.
2) Two Crop: 4 (four) 11 inch square Trays - 2 for Growing, 2 as Lids.
3) Ounce a Day/8 Crop: 8 Cells for Growing and 8 as Covers. Have a Fresh Crop 8 days a week!
Contents: One 11 x 22 inch Solid Plastic Drip Tray and Sixteen 5 x 5 inch Plastic Trays with drainage (you plant in 8 and use the other 8 as covers), 8 pounds of soil and 8 Single Harvest Packs of seed: Greens: Buckwheat Lettuce, Pea Shoots, Spicy Salad Greens, Sunflower Greens, Grasses: Barley, Kat, Oat and Wheat
Greens and Grasses are seeds which are sprouted for a day or two and then spread atop moist soil and grown into plants which are harvested by cutting at the base of the grown plant - about a week after planting. They are used on salads, sandwiches or as a snack.
Grasses are usually juiced (using either an extracting or masticating juicer) but can also be used as a center piece on a table in addition to the suggestions above.
This is a great way to see if you like growing and eating these plants. It takes a bit more work than sprouts, but it opens up a whole world of possibility. Give it a try!
Single Harvest packs of: Buckwheat Lettuce, Mesculin Mix, Pea Shoots, Spicy Salad and Sunflower Greens
Earthworm Castings are a necessary ingredient in the growing of Sunflower Greens. They offer more nitrogen to the growing plants which dramatically improves the quality of the crop - the Sunnys grow more rapidly, more evenly and shed their hulls more readily. Use no more than 30% worm castings in your soil or the high nitrogen content will "burn" your plants.
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