Purple sprouty things

Lois_and_CK

I once bought a bag of 'sprouts' (not brussels) from an organic supermarket. They were lovely on salad and I'd like to grow my own, but can't for the life of me remember what they were called. They're a bit bigger than alfafa sprouts (probably look more like cress actually), purple coloured, and very peppery. I don't suppose this rings a bell with anyone?

Also, any ideas where I can buy the seeds from? Do you think gardening centres will have them?

red

if it is what i am thinking of, you can buy a pack at sainsbury's in the salad section. i think you are looking for sprouting beans, and this could be from lentils, beansprouts and alfafa. they are great in salads etc. growing should be very easy - all you will need is a warm, light and moist environment. you could buy a sprouting jar, but it is not entirely necessary..i am sure we grew these at school in the classroom!

daska

Can't help identify which ones it was you had but supermarkets and health food shops often sell quite a variety of things suitable for sprouting. There's a good list here.

N.B. There are concerns that raw sprouted legumes (e.g. alfalfa, chickpea) can contain toxins that can damage the immune system or aggravate Lupus - but having said that there are plenty of people who have eaten tons of them over the years and are a perfect picture of health :-)

Lois_and_CK

Thank you, both. I was in Sainsburys today and saw those packs of sprouts you mentioned, Red. I nearly bought a pack, but they were so expensive in the end my MSE head kicked in and I thought I ought to grow my own instead!

Thanks for that list, daska. Very useful because the only one I could remember was alfalfa! I looked in Sainsburys for seeds, but while they had loads of veg and salad stuff, they had nothing suitable for sprouting. There are no health food shops locally, but there is a garden centre - I wonder if they'll sell them?

Still not identified the purple things, but I'm wondering if they might be radish as they're described as 'hot'. Are radish sprouts purple?

daska

Tesco's stock mung beans, they're about the most digestible of the sprouting things.

picklepick

could it be purple sprouting brocolli??

edit: sorry just re read... probably not then! looks nothing like alfalfa

might it be red radish sprouts/sango?

Lois_and_CK

Oo! Found a picture of them! You see the purple ones at the bottom? Well, that's exactly what they looked like. No flipping description with the photo though so I'm still none the wiser.

Thanks to everyone who's replied.

picklepick

i think its red radish sango. try a microherb webiste or http://www.jungleseeds.com/SeedShop/VegetableSprouts.htm

Lois_and_CK

Ah ha! My investigations point to multi-colored purple radish sprouts :T

So I suppose I'd be looking for purple radish seeds?

OMG it's 10 past 4. Well there's an afternoon's work lost looking up purple sprouts, oops.

Lois_and_CK

picklepick wrote: »

i think its red radish sango. try a microherb webiste or http://www.jungleseeds.com/SeedShop/VegetableSprouts.htm

Ooo thanks picklepick - I'll check that out. Yay!

Yes, yours sounds more likely than mine because the description says they're spicy, whereas purple radish sprouts say they're mild.

mustafa_say_ving

It could be radish sango (sprouting)

http://www.thompson-morgan.com/seeds1/product/704/1.html