Grow Your Own Beansprouts : Day 1

Growing Beansprouts is easy, just soak a tablespoonful of beans (these are Mung beans from the local health food shop) in a jar of water for 24 hours. I have them on a work top in the kitchen, just taken outdoors for photographing!

By tomorrow evening the beans will have swollen up and split their skins. Empty the water off through a sieve or by putting your hand over the top of the jar.

For the next two or three days the beans will need rinsing through with fresh water a few times a day, they grow very quickly this time of the year.

When they have well developed stems and before leaves appear put them in the fridge - this will slow their development and prevent them becoming bean plants. Continue rinsing them with clean water.

Start eating them as soon as they start sprouting: I like a handful sprinkled on a salad, they are nice in stir fries, laksa soup, chop suey, more recipes on the BBC website - I'll have to try some of these myself!

Let me know how you get on, it's the perfect pastime for school holidays, no garden required :-)

Cloudy start, sunny afternoon spent clearing the garden behind the garage, rain in the evening - a perfect Sunday :-)