You don't need to live on a homestead or even have a back yard to grow your own herbs and salad greens. When I lived and worked in England it was usually in apartments with only windows to the outside. I always had pots of herbs growing in the sunny window sills. These I used liberally in salads or in my cooking. My first home had a postcard size verandah (patio) on which I had slightly bigger pots of herbs. The best discovery was growing sunflower salad. To this day sunflower sprouts is one of my favourite mini gardens to grow and eat.
Sunflowers are incredible. This Sunflower Salad is a special educational tool for children. Not only are sunflowers beautiful to look at but they are an invaluable source of food. The seeds can be enjoyed by both animals and people as well as be sprouted to make delicious salad. Sunflower sprouts are like eating a bowl of sunshine!
You don't need green fingers or much space to eat fresh and healthy. Just a selection of seeds and grains, water, shallow gardening trays and some river sand. Of course, my secret ingredient; my enthusiastic little BuckarooBabies who want to understand and eat and do everything. It encourages me to make that extra effort. Children learn through play. And they learn best when something excites them. Home is the best classroom. Homesteading is the best school.
Overnight soak 1.5 cups of unhulled sunflower seeds. These will fill a tray of about 50cm x 25cm (and about 8cm deep) I dissolve a teaspoon of himalayan salt in the water before adding the sunflower seeds. It revitalises the water and gives the little sunflower seeds a boost. In the morning rinse the sunflower seeds and leave them to stand for another day. In this time the growing begins. You can get your tray ready by covering the base (where the holes are) with a few layers of newspaper. Then half to 3/4 fill the tray with clean river sand. After rinsing the sunflower seeds again on the second day spread them on the river sand. They should make a rather dense layer. Spread a thin layer of river sand over the exposed sunflower seeds. Water them being careful not to flood them.
Keep them well watered and within 2 to 3 days you will have the beautiful green heads popping up, wearing their sunflower hats! It is important that the tray of sunflower seeds gets some sun but also shade. And they must be kept wet. Not drowing, just damp. Depending on your season and climate the sunflower sprouts should be ready to harvest within a week of planting. The little plant is at its maximum nutritional potential in that first week. It is important not to harvest them after they are leggy and have a number of leaves. You want them tender and still full of goodness.
While our sunflower seeds are growing let's prepare the rest of this tasty summer dish! Our favourite salad dressing is this zesty tahini sauce. I like to grind my own sesame seeds to make tahini but it is not always possible. My measurements are usually in dashes and pinches and guesstimates.
Sunshine salad dressing:
1 cup tahini
1/2 cup water
1 lemon juiced (or 2 to 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar - with the mother preferably)
2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil.
A generous pinch of salt
A dash of cayenne
A dash of ground cumin seeds
A garlic clove or two
A few dates soaked in hot water to soften.
Measure out 1 cup of tahini. Add 1/3 - 1/2 cup water depending on how thick or runny you want your salad dressing. Mix until smooth. Blend in the dates and olive oil plus lemon. You'll notice it thickens. Add all your spices and crushed garlic. Refrigerate. To fill the growing family and hard working Farmer Buckaroo I add a generous portion of roasted vegetables. Today I was pressed for time and so I simply chopped up a sweet butternut and roasted it in a pan, with coconut oil, smoked paprika and some of our freshly harvested garlic.
When you are ready to eat your sunshine salad use a pair of scissors and snip the lovely sunflower sprouts off at the base, near the bed of river sand. You may need an invaluable little assistant for this part! You can add other herbs or salad greens. For today's sunshine salad I picked rocket (arugula) as our garden is exploding with this peppery herb. Rinse well and dry.
Pile the greens on your plate. Add the roasted veggies and garlic. Of course what is a salad without avo. I also tossed in olives, walnuts and some pomegranates (or sultanas). Liberally drizzle your zesty tahini salad dressing and .... voila! My children have grown up toddling around the gardens and taking bites out of veggies still on the plants. So eating salad is not a struggle for me - the struggle is in having enough for myself! Even my carnivorous husband loves the sunshine salad. It is delicious. It is easy. It is packed full of flavour and nutrition! Happy homeschooling and homesteading everyone!
