Monday, January 7, 2013

Sprouting fodder for our livestock Part 3 - its growing

As I mentioned in Part 1 & Part 2 I started with a small amount (1/4 cup) to test the success or fail of the seeds/grains we already have on hand.  So far, I am very pleased.  The winter wheat and the black oil sunflower seeds are growing at about the same rate.  This morning when I went to rinse, the wheat sprouts were sticking out of the cheesecloth!

I rinsed & drained 3 times yesterday and kept the jars tipped in the plastic container (to allow them to drain and not sit in water) and covered with a cotton tea towel.

Day 3 - wheat sprouts sticking out through the cheesecloth

Day 3 - black oil sunflower seeds

Day 3 - black oil sunflower seeds

Day 3 - winter wheat

Day 3 - pasture mix - so far it looks like the clover is sprouting, I'm not sure if the grasses are.

I don't have a picture of the 5 grain scratch because I'm just not sure if its actually sprouting or if what I'm seeing is pieces of cracked corn.  I think I saw sprouting on the barley, hopefully this evening if it is, it will be more obvious and I'll have pictures to share.

After rinsing this morning I decided to leave them uncovered (I'd been covering them with a tea towel) as its going to be a bit warmer and the sun is actually shining in through the windows.

I'd like to start setting up the racks & trays today as well as get the bucket drilled.  I'm going to set this up in my bathtub in our master bathroom.  When we bought the house it didn't have a tub, so we bought one but didn't think to check the depth of the tub against the capacity of our hot water heater.  So now we have a really deep awesome tub that our hot water heater only fills 1/4 of the way with hot water.  Taking a bath at this time just isn't happening.  So far, our tub has been used as a starter brooder for chicks and guineas lol.

My plan is to use grating we've had stored for years as well as some wire racks that came out of an old refrigerator.  I can hook up a short hose from the faucet so I can water the trays and the water can drain down the drain.  Also our bathroom has a big skylight so that provides the diluted sunlight/ambient lighting.

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