Holiday Activity: Grow Sunflower Sprouts in Just 12 Days

 

Congratulations - you have made it to the last stretch of the June school holidays!

If you are running out of ideas on fun activities, we’ve got you covered! Why not explore growing microgreens with your kids to help them stay in touch with nature and eat healthy.

For this blog, we have reached out to our friends at Everything Green to get their expertise on how to effectively grow sunflower sprouts in your home.

We chose sunflower sprouts for their mild flavour with a hint of nuttiness. They are perfect as a topping over your avocado toast or as a salad with a drizzle of lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil.

 

 

Black oil sunflower seed variety are the best for growing microgreens. Remember to choose non-GMO, organic raw seeds.

 

What you will need

Black oil sunflower seeds
Growing tray with drainage holes
Potting mix
Glass jar or bowl for soaking seeds

Note: 30g of sunflower seeds will grow 60g of sunflower sprouts. Each seed will become a single sunflower sprout which can be harvested only once.

Instructions

1. Soak sunflower seeds for 4 hours in a bowl or jar.
2. Drain the seeds.
3. Put potting mix (3-4cm high) into the growing tray.
4. Evenly place soaked seeds on top of the potting mix and mist with water.
5. Cover the seed from light with paper towel or place another tray on top and add weight.
6. Mist them twice daily.
7. Once you see the seeds germinate, expose them to light. As the plant grows, you may see some seed casing attached to the tip of the leaves. These will shed naturally as the leaves unfurl.
8. Once the leaves unfurl wait until the true leaves just begins to show. Harvest these mature greens first and leave the ones that have not shed the seed casing. Each sunflower microgreen can only be harvested once, this will help you get the most out of your harvest.

 

Tips

1. Placing microgreens by a sunny window will keep the stalks short and juicy.
2. Store the harvested greens in our beeswax wrap (we recommend size L for this purpose) to maximise their freshness. Sunflower sprouts do not keep well, consume them within 3-5 days.

Everything Green has kindly offered our community a 5% off minimum spend of $20, use code 'MINIEG5' at check out.

Check out Everything Green's page for all herbs & microgreens supplies! 

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