Mixed Sprouting Success ...

Good news ... I am in the sprouting business.  In other words, I am one step closer to being independent of unreliable and expensive vendors to get my pea sprouts and sunnies.

Lovely, green, tall pea shoots 

My pea sprouts look remarkable.  They are one day from harvest, tall, green, and handsome.
My sunflower seeds on the other hand ... I am not entirely certain what went wrong.  Perhaps they had not sprouted enough before planting, perhaps they were over or under soaked. They look like something from Ursula's garden of withered, poor unfortunate souls.

My sunnies bear a strong resemblance to these poor, unfortunate souls

Once I determined, around day 4 or 5, that something was horrifically wrong with the baby sunnies, I started to soak a new batch.  I am being more conscientious this time despite the fact that I was pretty darn sure I did it right last time. If they do not grow into glorious sunflower sprouts this time around, I simply have no recourse but to blame it on the seeds.

While at Hippocrates, I was told by Carine, the greenhouse manager, that if you do everything as directed and the seeds do not grow, it could be a bad batch. Mine may have sat outside in the Arizona heat too long after UPS delivery, so as not to place direct blame on Hippocrates for the seeds they sent me. (this is me refusing to take personal responsibility)

This is why it is important to buy a good quality seed such as Sproutman's Organic seeds or Wheatgrass Kits.com (ask for 10% off).  There are several good suppliers of seeds, so shop around for a good deal but do not skimp on quality!

See the links page for sprout supply vendors ...

In the meantime, I am 3 days into my second round of pea sprouts and 1 day into my new round of sunnies. I am feeling confident about the outcome this time but will know more in a couple of days. In a month, I expect to have a rotating planting schedule down so I am not getting too much, or too little of either, but "just enough" to sustain me and perhaps a bit left over for my family.