Home-grown alfalfa sprouts are ready to eat in days.

The Providence Journal / Tom Meade

Though the vegetable garden may have faded to brown, there are plenty of opportunities to have fresh, nutritious and delicious vegetables through the winter — grown in a kitchen cabinet or broom closet.

Vegetable and grain sprouts contain high levels of vitamins, including A, B-complex, C, D, E and K. They contain such minerals as calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus, as well as beneficial enzymes, antioxidants, essential fatty acids and amino acids.

Even better, sprouts open worlds of flavor from sweet and malty red winter-wheat sprouts to familiar nutty alfalfa sprouts to zingy Chinese radish sprouts. Crunchy bean sprouts add substance to sandwiches when they’re raw, and character to stir-fried dish when they’re lightly cooked.

Seeds for sprouting are generally inexpensive. They last for a year or more in storage, and unlike many other stored foods, seeds maintain their nutrition, ready to burst forth as sprouts.

The best part of growing sprouts is the wonder of the process — watching a bitty seed bear new life to nourish other lives.

For safety’s sake, it’s wise to buy organic seed grown purposefully for sprouting by a seed supplier who tests for the E. coli bacterium and salmonella. Asian grocery stores carry mung and other beans that can be sprouted (for a fraction of the seed companies’ price) but there are no guarantees that the seed is free of nasty chemicals or bacteria.

For an idea about price, organic sprouting seed from Johnny’s Selected Seeds in Maine ranges from $2.65 for a quarter pound of buckwheat seed to about $11 for a quarter pound of Red Russian kale seeds, known for their mildly spicy flavor and dark green leaves with pink trim.

Seed companies also offer countertop sprouters to grow sprouts, but Mason or mayonnaise jars work as well.

Make a ventilated draining cap with a piece of window-screening material squeezed to shape over the jar top, and secure it with a strong rubber band around the sides. Screening works better than cheese cloth because it allows water to drain completely. It’s important to give the seeds plenty of room so they don’t crowd one another and prevent sprouts from emerging. You’ll soon get the hang of it, but for starters, in a wide-mouth, one-quart jar, add only about two tablespoons of alfalfa seeds, but as much as a quarter cup of mung beans.

Soak them overnight.

In the morning, invert the screen-covered jar and drain the seeds, saving the water to feed houseplants.

Shake the seed so it is evenly distributed when you lay the jar on its side in a dark place.

Twice a day, fill the jar with water and drain it immediately to rinse the seeds and keep them moist. It’s really important to drain the jar of water. If the seeds sit in a puddle, they will rot.

Some seeds, such as mung beans, will start sprouting in a day. Others take a little longer.

Most of the common seed sprouts are ready to eat in three to six days. They will keep for several days in the refrigerator, but they are best eaten fresh in salads, sandwiches, omelets and just about any other dish that benefits from fresh vegetables.Seed Sources

Here are some organic seed sources online:

•The Sprout House: www.sprouthouse.com

•Johnny’s Selected Seeds: www.johnnyseeds.com

•Territorial Seed Company: www.territorialseed.com

•Mumm’s Sprouting Seeds: www.sprouting.com

tmeade@projo.com