Growing your own food at home has never been easier, no matter the size of your home, or how much spare time you have. Organic sunflower seeds for sprouting, or micro greens as they are also know, are one of the best beginner friendly plants to grow and are very hard to kill or get wrong.
If you want to start growing your own perfect healthy snack, read on below to find out how.
Why Grow Sunflower Seeds For Sprouting?
Growing sunflower sprouts is not only very quick and easy to do, they also offer a great deal of nutritional value and don’t need much space to grow in. As long as they have some direct sunlight, a pot with good drainage holes and some good soil, that’s all you really need for them to thrive.
Sunflower seeds (helianthus annuus) have a distinctive nutty flavor and are a great source of vitamins b and also a good source of protein. They are also packed with essential amino acids and are an excellent source of vitamin e and dietary fiber.
The Health Benefits
Eating organic sunflower sprouting seeds offer a wealth of health benefits including…
- High in vitamin b
- Full of healthy fats
- High in essential nutrients
- Proven enemy of cancer
- Full range of vitamin b complex
- Aid in healthy bones
- Proven health claims
Add some of these to your diet for your overall health.
How To Grow Sunflower Sprouts
To start the sprouting process, or growing your own sprouts, simply follow the below step by step guide…
- Soak seeds overnight (or at least 4-8 hours) in warm water, drain the excess water and rinse them.
- Spread the soaked seeds evenly at the bottom of a sprouting tray on a piece of unbleached paper towel, keeping them in a warm, dark place.
- Rinse and drain the seeds twice a day with fresh water.
- Within 5-7 days, you’ll have edible sprouts with a crunchy texture, full of vital nutrients.
You are essentially eating the first set of true leaves which have a very tender texture and have a delicious nutty sunflower taste.
The Best Way To Eat Sunflower Sprouts
Add some homegrown nutrients into your meals with the delicious addition of some micro greens such as sunflower sprouts. Crunchy sprouts full of vitamins and minerals you can add to salads, sandwiches, and smoothies. Make your own recipes with these baby vegetables – you could even add them to veggie burgers instead of lettuce for a nutty zing.
The best part is, you can eat them raw, and even as soon as you’ve harvested them. The sunflower seeds before you soak them have a shelf life of around 1 year. However, once sprouted, they should last in a dark area for 2-3 days at room temperature, or 8-10 days in the fridge.
Make sure you harvest and eat the leaves before they get darker green leaves as they can tend to make them taste bitter as they grow into adulthood.
Where To Buy
In the UK there are so many places where you can buy sunflower seeds for sprouting online.
These are our favourite places to buy from…
- Buy Wholefoods Online – £8.58 per kg of the sunflower seeds
- Real Food Source – £8.15 per kg
(NOT affiliate links)
Did You Know…
- Sunflower seeds come from the plant’s large flower heads, which can contain up to 2,000 seeds per plant.
- Grow the same sunflower seeds into large plants for your garden by sowing them in pots and placing outside in the warmer months.
- High in anti-oxidants.
- Sunflower kernels contain high levels of minerals, including – magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, iron and zinc.
Would you include organic sunflower seeds for sprouting into your diet?
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