Dear Sproutman,
Do you have any tips for removing the shells from the sunflower and buckwheat shoots? Also, do you recommend a certain place to purchase seed?
-Linda
Dear Linda,
The seed makes a big difference when it comes to hull drop-off. Bird seed for example, is a type of black sunflower but it holds on to its shells, not to mention that it also grows tons of mold due to the fact that this is the lowest and dirtiest sunflower seed available. I’m mentioning it as a bad example. An example of why you should spend money to get the best quality sprouting grade seed. Remember, sprouting is “seed intensive” gardening. Poor seed means poor results. It’s as simple as that. Sprouting seed is even more selective than garden seed, if you think about it. Bad seeds that go into your garden will rot in the ground and you’ll never notice it. But in your kitchen garden, you’ll notice it and you’ll smell it and you’ll give up on sprouting because of the bad results. So please, only buy high quality sprouting seed. Sprouting is not an expensive hobby like hydroponics where equipment alone can cost you $1,000 dollars. Invest in quality sprouting seed. That investment will pay off.
Do I have anybody to recommend? Just go to my website and click on “All Organic Sprouting Seeds.” I work very hard to select the best seeds available at any given time. I look for factors such as HULL DROP-OFF in addition to height, color, taste, rate of growth, root health, cleanliness, etc., and I also test for salmonella and e-Coli. Read the seed page to learn more.
Greenhouse Lid
Other things you can do to keep growing big shell sprouts and micro-greens is keep them HUMID. Keep the Greenhouse covers on longer. Use either my Freshlife or my Wheatgrass Grower kit pictured. See the greenhouse covers? That traps the moisture which softens the shells. As the seeds grow taller and get more light, they throw the shells OFF! As long as the environment is humid. Then they SLIDE OFF. So keep the greenhouse on, add more light during the final days of growth.
Read more about the special conditions for sunflower and buckwheat in my book SPROUTS THE MIRACLE FOOD. Lots of tips in that book. Look under BOOKS and CDs on my webpage. Also check out my website under SPROUTERS and under WHEATGRASS. Growing Buckwheat and Sunflower is akin to growing Wheatgrass. Same procedure applies.
Best wishes,
-Sproutman
Sproutman SproutLab 
I have recently be told that sprouts have been banned due to the bacteria content within the seed itself. I’m sure this could be true of some seeds such as the sunflower seeds low on the totem pole you mentioned in your last blog. However how am I to be sure the seeds I recently purchased do not have this same bacterial issue?
Thank for the input,
Jolene
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Hi Jolene,
The bacteria you are referring to in sprouts is Salmonella and E-Coli. Neither of these comes from sprouts or tomatoes or spinach or cucumbers or any plants that have been temporarily recalled because of the suspicion of these bacteria. They come from the intestines of cows and pigs. They get on seeds due to contamination from people, trucks, or at the farm. If you look at any of the seeds on my seed pages, you will notice that I test for these bacteria and several others. A sample is drawn from every bag, that sample is sent to the lab, and grown. The rinse water is tested, and the sprouts are blended and then again tested. You can see copies of a typical lab report on any of my seed pages. The entire sprout industry has a vested interest in making sure we are selling a clean product. Sadly, because it is not mandated yet, not every sprout industry member spends the extra money and effort to test. But you can be sure about the purity of the seeds you buy from us.
-Sproutman
See typical test below:
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