This time of year we start some indoor plants. Not those house plants that hang around for decades and are given embarrassing names. The mantra of these plants is be brief, be brilliant and be gone: sprouts to eat and paper whites to amaze.
Sprouts appeared in the 60s and 70s as a staple of the Birkenstock crowd. Somehow I got it into my head that it took a little skill and equipment and so never tried to grow them. Turns out I was wrong. It’s easy to get a tasty sprout in 4 or 5 days.
My breakthrough was discovering a conveniently packaged, organic seed selection; I buy them at Halifax Seed but they are probably elsewhere too. I stick to smaller seeds like alfalfa and lentil mixes. Beans have been less successful for me.
The growing equipment is a largish glass jar, a bit of net and an elastic band. One of the seed varieties includes a starter kit of a little square of the fine mesh net and an elastic band that fit over the mouth of the jar. I have bought fine nylon mesh in a fabric store or maybe there is a little you can cut off that old bridesmaid dress. A tablespoon of seeds in the jar are soaked and drained for 3 or 4 days and then sprouts-a-rama!
For real instructions you’ll find lots of info and videos online. Your harvest will keep for days in the fridge. We feel all smug dropping a clump of sprouts on soup, putting them in a sandwich or on the edge of a plate of anything.
Even easier to grow are paper whites. These bulbs I also purchase at Halifax Seed and any nursery would have them now. I’ve grown them in many containers but for the last number of years I use glass vases with some small stones in the bottom. For stones I use small beach rocks but large gravel or marbles would work. Put some stone in the growing vessel, place one or more bulbs with the growing tip up and add a few more stones to hold the bulb in place. Add water till it touches the base of the bulb. Within a day the bulb will start putting out roots and then sending up green leaves.
In a couple of weeks you will have intensely fragrant white flowers.
The flowers fade in a week or so but the flopping green leaves can also be a joy and go on and on. The trick is to start a new batch every week or so from now until the beginning of January to have continual bloom. Some people may find the fragrance too intense (not I). These are tender bulbs that expend their energy just for you – when they have passed just put the plant and bulb in the compost.
