{"id":1251,"date":"2020-08-19T16:11:01","date_gmt":"2020-08-19T16:11:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/?p=1251"},"modified":"2020-08-19T16:11:07","modified_gmt":"2020-08-19T16:11:07","slug":"bean-sprouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/bean-sprouts\/","title":{"rendered":"Bean sprouts"},"content":{"rendered":"

I would like to introduce you to my bean sprouts. I would give them all names if this wasn\u2019t a proper farming enterprise in which sentimentality has no place. Anyway, they\u2019re destined for the pot after three days so there\u2019s hardly time to get to know them as there would be with chicks or piglets.<\/p>\n

This is the final piece of the self-sufficiency jig-saw \u2013 that is to say, I am now able to survive without going ashore for a hundred days.<\/p>\n

I carry 230 litres of water and can get by comfortably on 2.2litres a day.<\/p>\n

I bake my own bread once I\u2019ve exhausted the astonishing longevity of Kingsmill\u2019s 50\/50 sliced variety. The boat is full of canned beer and tinned food \u2013 and, of course, Pink Lady apples seem to have discovered the secret of immortality.<\/p>\n

That left only two essentials \u2013 salads and fresh vegetables.<\/p>\n

So, welcome to mung beans.<\/p>\n

You may remember that on the self-isolation cruise back in April and May, I complained that these refused to germinate after three years \u2013 they just went a funny colour and started to smell. Now I have a new bag. In fact, the smallest I could find in the Amazon store was 1kg which seemed an awful lot considering I need only a tablespoonful a day \u2013 and not every day at that.<\/p>\n

I have three little plastic pots with 2.5mm holes drilled in the screw tops. A spoonful of beans just covers the bottom of the pot. Soak them for 24 hours and then drain the excess water into yesterday\u2019s pot\u2026 and from there into the one started the day before that\u2026<\/p>\n

It\u2019s perpetual motion. In three or four days, that tablespoonful which just covered the bottom of the pot will be filling it right to the top – even poking its little pale green tendrils through the holes in a bid for freedom.<\/p>\n

Bean sprouts are, of course, full of all the goodness you would get from lettuce or broccoli so I souse them in salad dressing or throw them in the pot at the end of cooking. The best thing about this is that there is none of the guilt you get with lobsters – all that screaming…<\/p>\n

Bean sprouts are mute.<\/p>\n

But the greatest discovery is that they are just as good a gherkins in my trademark mayonnaise, gherkin and HP sauce sandwiches. The problem with gherkins is the bulk and the\u00a0weight of all those enormous jars. Bean sprouts taste just as good and you still get that satisfying crunch with the first bite. Also, they\u2019re always fresh so they don\u2019t go soft over time.<\/p>\n

Flushed with this success, I plan to branch out and experiment with alfalfa sprouts. Meanwhile, I hope this has been useful. I had thought of telling you why I am sitting in a ria in NW Spain instead of with the family in Portugal but that seemed pretty dull stuff, full off complaints about quarantine regulations.<\/p>\n

But bean sprouts\u2026 you have to admit it: Bean sprouts are exciting…<\/p>\n

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I would like to introduce you to my bean sprouts. I would give them all names if this wasn\u2019t a proper farming enterprise in which sentimentality has no place. Anyway, they\u2019re destined for the pot after three days so there\u2019s hardly time to get to know them as there would be with chicks or piglets. … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1251"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1257,"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1251\/revisions\/1257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}