Sprouted sunflower seeds

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Furries

Furries

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I bought a 1 kilo bag of unhulled sunflower seeds from my local pet shop for about a pound, soaked a quarter of them in filtered water for 24-hours, drained them and then kept rinsing them twice a day. After about ten days, I'd got a huge (washing-up bowl sized) bowl full of green sprouts a few inches long.

I fed a quarter of them to the bunnies and guinea-pigs, after initial looks of 'you're trying to poison us' from the bunnies and tentative nibbles from the squeakers, they both troughed them down. Sprouts are really high in nutrients, so I'm pleased they like them. It's also much cheaper than having to keep buying stuff, because I can't pick them anything out of the garden at the moment due to the snow. All in all, I'll get about 16 meals out of them for a pound!

I have also tried sprouting peas, but most of them went slimy. I did manage to get one meagre meal of pea shoots for them out of 250g of marrowfat peas! I may try growing them in compost in a propagator to see if I have more luck.

I wish they liked alfalfa sprouts because they're dead easy to grow and a teaspoon of seeds soon fills a big jam-jar.
 
I have done it with wild bird seed mix and and let that grow over winter - it was an instant hit over the very cold Easter we had a couple of years back!

 
Wiebke said:
I have done it with wild bird seed mix and and let that grow over winter - it was an instant hit over the very cold Easter we had a couple of years back!

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Brilliant idea! Thanks. Did you sprout all of the different seeds?

BTW, I've said this in another post, but I would like to repeat it here: I just love your avatar of a snow-piggy, it's so cute!
 
Furries said:
Brilliant idea! Thanks. Did you sprout all of the different seeds?

BTW, I've said this in another post, but I would like to repeat it here: I just love your avatar of a snow-piggy, it's so cute!
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I sprouted it from a mix of left over seeds that the birds were not keen on. You can leave it outside (cover moistened compost with clingfilm until green shows) or sprout indoors for quicker results. You can treat it as cut and come for a couple of times.

Please do not let the piggies eat any seed or make the seedlings set seed - they are quite rich in protein and fat and should not be eaten regularly.

Grain greens, however, are a very good alternative source of fresh grass in winter (after all, grains (from wheat, barley, rye etc. to rice) are basically varieties of grass!)

PS: Thanks for liking my snow piggy - I hope you enjoy the whole family! :)) )
 
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