Chives

I always have chives in my garden. They come back every year even though a use quite a few in salads while the flowers and leaves are still tender. This year I have started looking more closely at the round flowers on top.

The pink-purple color contrasts nicely with the green of the garden. The teardrop shaped buds burst open and it is almost immediately apparent that the bud includes multiple flowers.

As the small flowers open, the shape transforms from tear drop to round. The flowers are positioned to all face outward.

The petals continue to elongate and appear to thin. Soon they will past the stage for including in salads.

Flaxseed Sprouts

I am sprouting flaxseed to add to salads. It takes 4-5 days during the winter months but might take less in the summer when the house is a bit longer and the house warmer. Here is the way I do it:

• I only want to grow a single serving at a time (i.e. have sprouts in a salad every 4-5 days) - so I start with 1 tablespoon of seeds.
  
• Soak the seeds overnight.
• You will notice that the seeds swell with soaking. Drain using a fine mesh strainer. Place in a covered bowl.
  
• Rinse and drain at least once a day. The seeds should stay moist. The seed husk spilts on some seeds and tiny white sprouts will appear on many within 3 days.
  
• Add them to a salad! Not all the seeds have to have sprouts to be yummy. Sprouting flaxseed is ‘sticky’ so it will adhere to other salad ingredients better than the dry, unsprouted seeds. 

Growing my own sprouts appeals to me and this is an easy way to do it. Flaxseed is nutritious to begin with and sprouting makes them easier to digest…and absorb all the goodness.

By the way - sprouted flaxseed is good as a topping for soup as well!