Not for fun: sprouting hemp seeds for health

If you decide to germinate cannabis seeds, be prepared for merciless trolling - friends, colleagues and relatives will probably joke about Rastafarianism more than once. Or maybe they’ll even give you a Bob Marley CD and a multi-colored hat. But you know that cannabis is not only a prohibited hallucinogen, but also a valuable food source of all kinds of benefits. More precisely, hemp is different from hemp, and before germinating anything, you need to make sure that the seeds you bought are healthy and not fun.

Be careful not to mix it up!

The most important thing to know for those who decide to improve their health with hemp seeds: hemp comes in different varieties!

• The Indian one is the one that is illegal in Russia. Simply put, the notorious drug cannabis.
• Food - one that has long been grown in Rus'. Its seeds can be eaten, healthy hemp oil and urbech are made from them, and fiber is obtained from the stems, which is used for the production of fabrics.

It is edible hemp seeds that are purchased for germination by vegetarians and all those who care about healthy nutrition.

Where can I get the seeds?

Have you ever seen hemp seeds in a store or market next to cereals, nuts and sunflower seeds? Hardly. The product, although useful, is not very popular due to associations with marijuana, which have already taken root in the minds of most people in the post-Soviet space.

Hemp seeds suitable for germination can be purchased at special retail outlets:

• eco-shops;
• vegan and raw food stores;
• healthy food departments;
• online stores of the relevant profile (iHerb, “Live Food” and the like).

It is better to buy shelled seeds rather than peeled ones. Prices usually start from 300 rubles. per kilogram.

How to germinate?

For germination you will need:

• deep container (glass, enamel, plastic are suitable);
• colander sieve;
• baking sheet or tray;
• 2 pieces of clean, undyed cotton fabric.

The fabric should not be too dense, since air access to the seeds is an important condition for successful germination. You can use gauze folded in 2-3 layers.

To properly germinate hemp seeds, follow this procedure:

1. First, rinse the raw materials a couple of times to get rid of dust and dirt. Use a strainer to prevent small seeds from clogging your sink drain.
2. Now we need to, as they say, separate the wheat from the chaff. Fill the washed seeds with clean water (you don’t have to follow strict proportions, but there should be more water than seeds). At first, all your future food will float on the surface - this is normal. You need to leave everything as is for 4–5 hours.
3. After this time, the seeds suitable for consumption will settle to the bottom. Everything that is inedible will float at the top - empty seeds and random debris.
4. Anything that floats to the surface should be carefully scooped up with a spoon and thrown away. Rinse the remaining seeds again in a sieve under running water.
5. Moisten both pieces of prepared fabric with water until damp and spread in one layer on a baking sheet or tray. Spread the seeds evenly on top and cover them with a second piece of damp cloth.
6. Leave the tray in a warm place for at least a day.Remember to maintain humidity (you can use a spray bottle), but do not allow it to be too much.
7. When small sprouts appear, you can already start eating. But before that, you need to rinse the sprouted seeds several more times.

As you can see, germinating hemp seeds at home is not a difficult task. Sprouts can be eaten as a separate dish or added to vegetable salads. Do not forget to chew thoroughly: after all, the product is as “harsh” as it is nutritious.