Okay, folks, here's a question for you -- I have been sprouting mung beans for a while. The kids love them. I decided to try and get a little more adventurous and sprout something else. I selected Quinoa from my store of dried beans and grains, and set to.

Five days later, no sprouts. Quinoa started to stink like heck, so I dumped it. It was organic, so it can't be that.

Someone tell me, did I do something wrong? Is quinoa special, or does it just not sprout???? I did the same procedure as for the mung beans (rinsing morning & night) and got nada.

-- Tracy (trimmer@westzone.com), October 07, 2000

Answers

Tracy, I looked in "The Sprouting Book", and guess what! Quinoa isn't even in the index. Sorry! I flipped through the section "Choosing Seeds For Sprouting" and they mentioned that sometimes seeds aren't ripe when harvested, and will rot rather than sprout.

-- Cathy Horn (hrnofplnty@webtv.net), October 07, 2000.

Quinoa is hulled to make it edible. That would also make it unsproutable. The outer coat of the seeds is very bitter and somwhat toxic, so it is removed before you buy it. Unhulled quinoa is sproutable, but you have to rinse off the hulls after if sprouts, before you eat it.

Also you shouldn't sprout seeds without knowing if the sprouts are edible. Tomato seeds are obviously edible, but the sprouts are toxic, for example. So stick to things you have clear instructions for.

==>paul

-- paul (p@ledgewood-consulting.com), October 07, 2000.