Urban Gardener
— by Carla Warneke
I live in a townhouse in a major metropolitan area. My garden space is pretty much nonexistent — so I thought.
At the start of my 21-day green smoothie detox, a single mint plant grew by my door. When I spotted the recipe for a minted melon smoothie, I trotted out the door with a pair of scissors. That worked great! I grazed my mint plant nearly to the ground during the detox.
The wonderful convenience of fresh herbs at my door inspired me to build a 16 foot by 1 foot planter box for growing basil, mint, and whatever I can coax to grow in the squeezed space behind my house. My herb garden plans got me going, and I decided to try sprouting seeds.
DIY Sprouting Kit
I trekked all over the city to put together a sprouting kit. I found quart size Ball jars at the grocery store, screening at the hardware store, and a wooden dish rack at a “designer” hardware store.
To assemble my sprout garden, I used scissors to cut circles out of the screening, creating “drainable” lids for my jars.
I placed the rack of jars on a cookie sheet covered with a small towel and put the whole thing into my dark pantry to start the sprouting.
Sprouting Sunflower Seeds
I searched through the local health food stores and found a few “sprout-able” seeds. I really wanted to sprout sunflower seeds, but the sunflower seeds for bird feeders were labeled, “Not for human consumption”; I passed on purchasing those.
The attendant at an organic food store showed me a paper packet of sunflower seeds — five seeds to be exact. Needless to say, I’ll be ordering some more seeds online. 😉
Sprouting Success!
I soaked the handful of seeds that I had overnight, and the next morning I rinsed the seeds and balanced the jars on the dish rack to drain.
After just three days of rinsing my seeds 1-2 times each day, I took the jars out of the pantry and into the light… et voila!
I now have crunchy green lentil, buckwheat, and mung bean sprouts!
After my sprouting success, I swaggered along at the Saturday farmers’ market feeling a new kinship with my fellow farmers. There, I noticed some folks advertising community gardening. Oh, to go large scale! Can I do it? Maybe, once I get my herb garden established, I can become a community gardener.
Urban gardening is great fun! 🙂