Short Lesson in Sprouting for Gardening

So my friend Kate asked about this sprouting business so I'll try to give a short tutorial. I have a feeling it won't be so short. Whatever, it's fun so it'll be worth it!

Cam and I originally bought our EasyGreen Sprouter from http://www.wheatgrasskits.com/ to sprout not only wheat grass (which is a topic of it's very own) but alfalfa, sunflower, beans, etc.

After reading a book by Eliot Coleman - 4 Season Harvest, Cam decided to try the soil block method for starting our seeds indoors. We mix our own soil for ultimate seed starting (soil recipe also from Coleman's book) and then after several failed attempts to build his own version of a soil blocker Cam bought this cool contraption from http://www.johnyseeds.com/

After mixing the soil, which Adi does a great job modeling for you above, blocks are formed using the contraption and then Adi gets to help plant seeds in the blocks. In the sprouter they go and they are gently misted with water at regularly timed intervals. Shortly after the seeds sprout we move them to larger blocks and let them hang out under a grow light in our basement. It's a pretty spiffy operation - we're just waiting for the day the cops come knocking on our door to see what we're growing in here! Ha ha. We'd gladly give them the tour :)