While Milly and Greybeard sat around discussing the fine art of composting various and sundry things I decided to give sprouting a go. Our good friend Captain Von Trap (See Who’s Who page) is a master sprouter. He even had a small business selling sprouts to restaurants as a kid. Captain gave us this fancy little book. It’s about a hundred years old but covers the topic really well. So here is what I did.

1. Found something to sprout. I had Polly get me a cup of wheat. Most of the wheat stayed in the bucket that should have.

1. Rinsed the wheat with warm water. I put too much in the bottle so took some out. I left these on a plate covered with water. I don’t see why that won’t work. I’m naturally curious to see how things will work out.

****Side Story************************************* In high school Penelope and I were goofing around at night. I had a golf ball and thought to my self “Gee, I wonder what a golf ball would do if I put it in our microwave.” I was thinking it would probably explode or at least get really soft or something. Well there was an explosion but it wasn’t the golf ball. The sparks and banging from the microwave woke up Elvis and Shorty as the microwave exploded and they flew out of their room thinking we had blown up the south side of our house. Thankfully Elvis only chuckled at my stupidity. Shorty just shook her head and said “Well, we aren’t raising the sharpest tool in the shed.” ****************************************************

1. Milly bought me a screen that fits on a wide mouth canning jar. I put the wheat in the jar and the screen on top. I rinsed the wheat in the jar.

Wheat Berries up close. You can see how much wheat I put in. I’m hoping I didn’t put too much in. I’m guessing the wheat will grow as it soaks. For wheat, the instructions say to soak the wheat berries 8 – 12 hours in temperatures of 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. One part wheat to four parts water. I’m doing it overnight. I’ve covered the jar with a box to keep out the light. Then after the initial soaking I will drain the water and leave the bottle leaning toward the screen so the water drains out. Every 4 hours it says to rinse with cold water. I will document as/if the wheat sprouts. If you want to know what the main items Milly and Grey beard are talking about composting, zoom in to the picture of Milly with her feet up on the couch in the whole wheat chocolate chip cookie post.