Re: Sprouts Turn Brown UPDATE

[Guest guest]

Dona.

Oh yeah, I do various things for rinsing and draining. The easiest is place a

bowl of cool water in the kitchen, dip and then put on drain rack. To me, that's

the simplest. As they grow higher, just dip them more into the bowl.

But in your case (and you are doing everything by the book), what if it's the

water you are using? What kind of water are you using to rinse and drain. If

the sprouts are turning brown no matter how you are doing the rinsing and the

draining, well to me, that might be there is something in the water that is

affecting the sprouts. Might be too much of this, too much of that, I'm no water

expert. I'd be curious to see what and the others think of this.

Melody

> >

> > I'm new to sprouting - just bought an Easy-Sprout Sprouter, some certified

organic broccoli seeds, and followed the sproutpeople instructions on the

YouTube video.

>

[Guest guest]

Something else I thought of also. Do you use enough water to really cool

them down? What I am now doing in my easy sprouts is I fill each one with

cold water and let them sit for just a few minutes to make sure the ones in

the middle get nice and cooled off. If it is a crop that needs to be

separated with a fork I separate them and let them sit. Then, for me I

pour the water into a gallon jug to water my veg. plants, I set the part

that holds the sprouts at an angle in the top of the bottom part, basically

prop it on one of the little ledges, let it drain for a few minutes then I

spin and shake to get as much water out as I can. I find for my brocolli

and radish sprouts that I need to dehull at about day 4 I guess, and at

that time I remove the little insert thing in the bottom of the sprouter,

this allows for better air flow and water drainage.

R.

> Dona.

>

> Oh yeah, I do various things for rinsing and draining. The easiest is

> place a bowl of cool water in the kitchen, dip and then put on drain rack.

> To me, that's the simplest. As they grow higher, just dip them more into

> the bowl.

>

> But in your case (and you are doing everything by the book), what if it's

> the water you are using? What kind of water are you using to rinse and

> drain. If the sprouts are turning brown no matter how you are doing the

> rinsing and the draining, well to me, that might be there is something in

> the water that is affecting the sprouts. Might be too much of this, too

> much of that, I'm no water expert. I'd be curious to see what and

> the others think of this.

>

> Melody

>

>

> > >

> > > I'm new to sprouting - just bought an Easy-Sprout Sprouter, some

> certified organic broccoli seeds, and followed the sproutpeople

> instructions on the YouTube video.

> >

>

>

>

>

> ------------------------------------

>

>

[Guest guest]

Melody - interesting about the water. That's something that didn't even cross

my mind. Here in Little Rock, the tap water tastes pretty good and doesn't have

nasty looking stuff, so I use it...but I don't have a clue about sprout effects.

Would distilled water work? I already have some of that. I could do another test

by " dunking " instead of flowing from tap.

Dona

>

> But in your case (and you are doing everything by the book), what if it's the

water you are using?

[Guest guest]

Hi Dona,

I only suffered brown sprouts once, and that was last week. A few went brown in

the fridge, just one corner of a bunch of clover. The rest were fine. I am

wondering if maybe they were the ones that were the driest as they drained in

the colander... then were allowed to get wet again.

The weather last week and this week has been very hot here, so my sprouts have

needed more tending to keep them moist (but not wet).

So, just a guess, but maybe they are over-drying between rinses, then sitting in

moisture too long, in a very warm climate.

If they were too dry they would just shrivel, but maybe going from too dry to

being wet again, the damage has already been done when they weren't getting

enough water.

Just a thought anyway.

Charlotte

[Guest guest]

I am pretty obsessive about the type of water I use on my sprouts-no way would I

use tap water, unless it was well water...and even then, there are potential

issues. Municipal city water contains over 200 chemicals (my city water has 256

according to their annual report...yes, I do read that, lol) When you realize

that a sprout is made up of MOSTLY water, you won't want that water to be full

of chemicals! Also, many pipes, especially in older homes, contain lead that

leaches in to the water-again, not something I want in my sprouts! I have one

of those hot/cold water dispensers in my kitchen, which I keep filled with

spring water, and I use that for ALL of my drinking, cooking, sprouting, etc.

For my outdoor gardens, I use collected rainwater when possible, but I sadly do

have to water with a garden hose now and then-I just make it a point not to do

so within 2 weeks of harvesting. I do think the quality of water effects the

final product.

[Guest guest]

Hi Charlotte - thanks for responding. I wish I could get a batch of sprouts to

the point where a batch was actually done and in the fridge. What do you use for

sprouting and how do you add more moisture if they dry out between rinses?

Dona

[Guest guest]

Dona, what type of " bottled " water did you use? If the bottle says " purified "

or " enhanced " , it is nothing more than bottled tap water. Spring water would

likely give you the best result, without the chemicals.

> >

> > I am pretty obsessive about the type of water I use on my sprouts-no way

would I use tap water,

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Dona, I use plain tap water but I'm in the UK. I can't really speak for your

tap water there. I know where our water comes from and what rocks it passes

through to get to our tap, and general levels of various minerals, chlorine,

fluoride, nitrates etc.. and I'm comfortable with the levels in the content.

You may be able to find out where your water is sourced, and what it contains,

from whoever your supplier is. I would hope they have that information on their

website. If you're in an area where there's a lot of farming, a major issue is

the leaching of nitrates from fertilisers into the water supply. Nasty chemicals

they are too, and they will affect the manner of growth in your precious crops.

In the UK we have nitrate level laws which I am sure must laso be the case with

you, but your maximum levels may be different. Anyway, it's definately worth

having a look at what's in your water for your own health let alone the health

of your sprouts!

I think your climate may as much be a factor as amnything, and it will affect

how often you rinse, and how well water is retained in your sprouts. What sort

of climate do you have? Is it hot, or humid?

In the jars I don't need to keep moist between rinses but I am rinsing every six

hours at the moment with it being very hot. On any sort of open topped trays, I

I do keep a spray bottle handy and spray my crops between rinses... sprouts will

dry out sooooo quickly... and I spray my peas, sunnies (and now popcorn) right

from the start. They're open to the air and will dry out much more quickly at

the start of growing until their roots are established into the

soil/coir/whatever is used.

Hope this helps

Charlotte

>

> Hi Charlotte - thanks for responding. I wish I could get a batch of sprouts to

the point where a batch was actually done and in the fridge. What do you use for

sprouting and how do you add more moisture if they dry out between rinses?

>

> Dona

>

[Guest guest]

You know now that I think about it, I had a harder time with my sprouts

when at my Mother in Love's house. There water leaves a slick feeling on

my skin, so it was leaving something on the sprouts also.

R.

[Guest guest]

Sounds like your in laws may have had a water softener in their house-it uses a

chemical salt to " soften " the water, and could indeed effect your sprouts.

>

> You know now that I think about it, I had a harder time with my sprouts

> when at my Mother in Love's house. There water leaves a slick feeling on

> my skin, so it was leaving something on the sprouts also.

> R.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

No it is the entire town and the water tastes awful!!!!! We always take

our own drinking water. If I am down there to long, my face will start to

break out, and my dry skin gets better. It is probably salt something

because she is only about an hour to an hour and a half from the beach in

Florida.

R.

> Sounds like your in laws may have had a water softener in their house-it

> uses a chemical salt to " soften " the water, and could indeed effect your

> sprouts.

>

>

>

>

>

> >

> > You know now that I think about it, I had a harder time with my sprouts

> > when at my Mother in Love's house. There water leaves a slick feeling on

> > my skin, so it was leaving something on the sprouts also.

> > R.

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

I did check the last water quality report. I'm not knowledgeable about these.

" Sulphur " is not reported, but sulfate is - I don't know the relationship, but

it's really low according to maximum allowed. Aluminum, iron and manganese

sometimes go over allowed, but " average " is within limits. Hydronium also

approaches maximum sometimes - has something to do with ammonia and pH. They do

list a bunch of " unregulated " substances/conditions along with tested values.

I'm not sure what all this means. My testing has all been within a pretty short

time period. I guess if the broccoli is particularly sensitive to one of these

and it is high right now, it could effect the sprouting.

Arkansas has very high humidity, but I have a serious sensitivity to heat, so I

am running the air conditioner to keep the temp at 70. That keeps the humidity

in the kitchen to 35-45% (otherwise sometimes outside it goes up to 85%...ick).

Weather.com is reporting our temp at 93 degrees right now.

On a personal note, I moved here after 35 years in Orange County, CA seven years

ago. I REALLY miss the weather there, but I just can't afford the housing prices

any more. One of the things I've noticed is that I absolutely killed any house

plants I tried to grow in CA, but have had some (moderate) success here in AR

without knowing or doing much. And outside we have a lot more green vegetation,

local critters - squirrels, birds, butterflies, etc. than in CA. A whole

cardinal family (about 5 birds) was living right over my fence in my neighbor's

backyard. That's my biggest payback for the climate loss. I don't work anymore,

so I have time to enjoy these things. I just can't go outside anymore. (LOL).

Dona

> >

> > Hi Charlotte - thanks for responding. I wish I could get a batch of sprouts

to the point where a batch was actually done and in the fridge. What do you use

for sprouting and how do you add more moisture if they dry out between rinses?

> >

> > Dona

> >

>

[Guest guest]

I will NEVER forget the first time I visited my parents after they moved to New

Port Richey Florida. I went to the sink to get a glass of water. It was not

drinkable. I said 'what the H? " My mother said " Oh, go to the fridge, we use

bottled water, you can't drink this tap water " .

I remember saying 'You can't drink the water?? " why not? " and she said 'we don't

know but it tastes terrible " .

That's over 40 years ago.

Wow, the memories do come back don't they? lol

Melody

[Guest guest]

Hi, why not do what I always do? Experiment.

Make a completely new batch and only use Spring Water.

That will tell you something.

Good luck, and keep us updated.

Melody

>

>

>

> Melody - interesting about the water. That's something that didn't even cross

my mind. Here in Little Rock, the tap water tastes pretty good and doesn't have

nasty looking stuff, so I use it...but I don't have a clue about sprout effects.

Would distilled water work? I already have some of that. I could do another test

by " dunking " instead of flowing from tap.

>

> Dona

> >

> > But in your case (and you are doing everything by the book), what if it's

the water you are using?

>

[Guest guest]

and it still tastes terrible...I have well water and I live about 20 miles or

less from NPR..

Jane

> I will NEVER forget the first time I visited my parents after they moved to

New Port Richey Florida. I went to the sink to get a glass of water. It was not

drinkable. I said 'what the H? " My mother said " Oh, go to the fridge, we use

bottled water, you can't drink this tap water " .

>

> I remember saying 'You can't drink the water?? " why not? " and she said 'we

don't know but it tastes terrible " .

>

> That's over 40 years ago.

>

> Wow, the memories do come back don't they? lol

>

> Melody

>

>

[Guest guest]

Dona, I didn't know you were in AR.  My husband's kids live in Searcy and

Beebe.  We have a little cottage north of Little Rock about 1-1/2 hours drive

near Greer's Ferry lake.  We had planned to go there 6 months a year when I

retired but after coming to FL we decided we like the weather here as summers

there are more hot than where we are which is about 3 miles as the crow flies

from the ocean.  That means a 10-15 min. drive.  Had we been able to afford a

place on the lake at the time there, we might have gotten a bigger place and

stayed there more.  I have trouble with all the mosquitoes there, but we are

getting noseeums here and have for last 2 years.  Will take another hurricane I

guess to blow them out to sea again.   We had about 5 years without many

bites, but that has changed now.  Not for my husband.  He says his Dutch blood

keeps them away from him -- full of BS.  My sugary blood and lighter Irish skin

has blood close to

surface.  We do enjoy being there when we do go though.  We have a deer run

through our back yard and the neighbor, only one in sight, feeds them corn, as

we did when we were there.  We gave some to them as we know they don't have a

lot to spend on them.  Have b irds there though we are not there long enough to

feed them.  Lots and lots of trees to hang bird feeders in.  We don't have the

trees here in FL so can't feed birds and few birds but doves and crows and

graeckles here except for= when a little flock of ibises come into the park

where we live.  We are in a mobile home here (mandatory evacuation in

hurricane).  Had some damage in 2006 with Wilma.  The tornadoes down there in

AR  have missed us.  The biggest thing there that I don't like is the

inconvenience as it is at least a half hour to a Walmart to get groceries. 

There are some little shops where we live, but expensive and have very limited

selections.  Hospital is a bit of a

distance and our doctor is about 25-30 min. away.  My hubby is on dialysis

and unless it is a health center which may have a machine the closest DaVita

seems to be in Searcy, around 50-60 minutes away.  There are a lot of things

I'd like to do to it, like put a deck behind it and up the hill to another deck

(none exist now).  Had to repair a flat roof last year and now need to repair

that roof from the inside where the ceiling got wet.  No telling what we'll

find there.    Hope we can go there this year, but just not sure.  If we get

a home dialysis machine it would be much more possible to travel.  But he would

need hemodialysis not peritoneal dialysis.  I heard there is a new portable

machine.  Are you in N/S, E/W areas?  One nice thing is that the cost of

living is fairly low there.  Am torn between keeping it and emptying it out of

too much stuff and selling the place.  It is just a nice back up in case of

hurricane here.  Can't

afford insurance here in FL.  We have an older mobile and have put about 4

times into it than what we paid for it.  We fix it for our enjoyment.  We are

planting veggies as well as flowers this year.  I may have to put a zapper out

back for mosquitoes or bitey bugs.  Hope you have better weather.  However, we

are all getting water from tropical storms that fortunately are not turning into

hurricanes and hope that continues.

 

Good luck neighbor! 

   

Carolyn Wilkerson

 

To: sproutpeople

Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2012 2:58 PM

Subject: Re: Sprouts Turn Brown UPDATE

 

I did check the last water quality report. I'm not knowledgeable about these.

" Sulphur " is not reported, but sulfate is - I don't know the relationship, but

it's really low according to maximum allowed. Aluminum, iron and manganese

sometimes go over allowed, but " average " is within limits. Hydronium also

approaches maximum sometimes - has something to do with ammonia and pH. They do

list a bunch of " unregulated " substances/conditions along with tested values.

I'm not sure what all this means. My testing has all been within a pretty short

time period. I guess if the broccoli is particularly sensitive to one of these

and it is high right now, it could effect the sprouting.

Arkansas has very high humidity, but I have a serious sensitivity to heat, so I

am running the air conditioner to keep the temp at 70. That keeps the humidity

in the kitchen to 35-45% (otherwise sometimes outside it goes up to 85%...ick).

Weather.com is reporting our temp at 93 degrees right now.

On a personal note, I moved here after 35 years in Orange County, CA seven years

ago. I REALLY miss the weather there, but I just can't afford the housing prices

any more. One of the things I've noticed is that I absolutely killed any house

plants I tried to grow in CA, but have had some (moderate) success here in AR

without knowing or doing much. And outside we have a lot more green vegetation,

local critters - squirrels, birds, butterflies, etc. than in CA. A whole

cardinal family (about 5 birds) was living right over my fence in my neighbor's

backyard. That's my biggest payback for the climate loss. I don't work anymore,

so I have time to enjoy these things. I just can't go outside anymore. (LOL).

Dona

> >

> > Hi Charlotte - thanks for responding. I wish I could get a batch of sprouts

to the point where a batch was actually done and in the fridge. What do you use

for sprouting and how do you add more moisture if they dry out between rinses?

> >

> > Dona

> >

>

[Guest guest]

She has a water softener and that has salts in it.  the outside faucets usually

bypass the water softener so next time, rinse them with the outside faucet when

you are there.

Carolyn Wilkerson

 

To: sproutpeople

Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2012 12:53 PM

Subject: Re: Re: Sprouts Turn Brown UPDATE

 

You know now that I think about it, I had a harder time with my sprouts

when at my Mother in Love's house. There water leaves a slick feeling on

my skin, so it was leaving something on the sprouts also.

R.

[Guest guest]

She does not have a water softener. It is the towns water. My daughter

lives there also. I wish it was just a water softener problem.

R

On Tue, May 29, 2012 at 4:30 PM, Carolyn Wilkerson <

carolyn.wilkerson@...> wrote:

> She has a water softener and that has salts in it. the outside faucets

> usually bypass the water softener so next time, rinse them with the outside

> faucet when you are there.

>

>

> Carolyn Wilkerson

>

>

>

>

>

> To: sproutpeople

> Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2012 12:53 PM

> Subject: Re: Re: Sprouts Turn Brown UPDATE

>

>

>

> You know now that I think about it, I had a harder time with my sprouts

> when at my Mother in Love's house. There water leaves a slick feeling on

> my skin, so it was leaving something on the sprouts also.

> R.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Melody, I've already got another batch soaking. Got another question though. Why

would there be a need to toss out the rinse (not soak) water each time? Since

I'm only working with one batch, could the water be saved for the next rinse?

Dona

[Guest guest]

Hey -

Shopping is the other thing I miss here in Little Rock. We have a few

medium-size shopping malls/centers, but they don't seem to have many stores I'm

interested in. I'm doing most of my shopping on-line and look for websites with

free (yeah, I know it's paid for somehow) shipping. In CA I rarely had to make

special trips to get what I needed - I'd just go on the way home from work or

another errand. Much more convenient.

Our medical services are supposed to be pretty good here because of the

University medical school. There are a lot of doctors. That's probably who is

buying all the new homes in West Little Rock - way too expensive for me and a

lot of new areas. I do live in West Little Rock - just not that far. I've met

a lot of people who are driving down here to Little Rock/NLR to work from places

a little farther north. And Conway seems to be doing well; they have some

shopping and restaurants there that we don't have in LR.

I grew up in Oklahoma and Kansas so the tornadoes are not terrifying, but

unwelcome. So were the earthquakes in CA. Is there a perfect place?

Dona

> > >

> > > Hi Charlotte - thanks for responding. I wish I could get a batch of

sprouts to the point where a batch was actually done and in the fridge. What do

you use for sprouting and how do you add more moisture if they dry out between

rinses?

> > >

> > > Dona

> > >

> >

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

You don't want to reuse your soak water. The purpose of the soaking and rinsing

is to remove enzyme inhibitors and anearobic waste, so you want to toss it.

>

>

> Melody, I've already got another batch soaking. Got another question though.

Why would there be a need to toss out the rinse (not soak) water each time?

Since I'm only working with one batch, could the water be saved for the next

rinse?

>

> Dona

>

[Guest guest]

OK, thanks .

>

>

> You don't want to reuse your soak water. The purpose of the soaking and

rinsing is to remove enzyme inhibitors and anearobic waste, so you want to toss

it.

>

>

[Guest guest]

I respectfully disagree, but I guess it would be a matter of preferrence. I

checked the pH of my soak water once and it was highly acidic. I personally

don't use it. Rinse water perhaps, soak water, no for me.

> >

> >

> > You don't want to reuse your soak water. The purpose of the soaking and

rinsing is to remove enzyme inhibitors and anearobic waste, so you want to toss

it.

> >

> >

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

See? I knew I read it somewhere that it's not good to re-use rinse water.

Thanks .

Mel

> >

> >

> > Melody, I've already got another batch soaking. Got another question though.

Why would there be a need to toss out the rinse (not soak) water each time?

Since I'm only working with one batch, could the water be saved for the next

rinse?

> >

> > Dona

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Melody, I'm about ready to throw this Easy Sprout away and try one of your

Sprout Gardens. If that doesn't work, maybe I can pay someone to grow broccoli

sprouts for me. Ha.

Dona

> >

> >

> > Melody, I've already got another batch soaking. Got another question though.

Why would there be a need to toss out the rinse (not soak) water each time?

Since I'm only working with one batch, could the water be saved for the next

rinse?

> >

> > Dona

> >

>