Does anybody hear sprout?

[surfsteve]

I haven't sprouted anything for at least a year and then it was only pinto beans. When I was really into sprouting hard core my favorite thing to sprout was Vernal alfalfa. It used to be the most available seed you could buy from the feed store but now other varieties have taken it's place. I always got an incredible amount of energy from sprouting vernal alfalfa that I never got from any other kind. It also tasted different. It was much more bitter. Other varieties were sweet. I read one website that said "vernal alfalfa will make your horses run like the wind!" I swear it's true. I can't swear to the part about horses but it did make me run like the wind!

I was also into sprouting wheat grass but didn't care for it. Oh I forgot I did make some sprouted wheat bread about a month or two ago. It was actually sprouted organic rye. I bought a 25 pound sack of rye a few years ago and still got most of it.

I don't think most people think of sprouts as paleo but I bet a lot of tender young shoots of all kinds of stuff were eaten in the spring by our paleo ancestors.

[surfsteve]

I just got through looking for vernal alfalfa seed and they don't even sell it on ebay or Amazon.  Last time I bought it from a seed company the seeds were coated with some kind of yellow stuff and I wound up throwing them away so I'm afraid to order any from seed companies anymore. Besides that most of them only sell vernal alfalfa in the early spring or fall and it's too late. Also it's not commonly planted anymore by the farmers because other hybrids that grow more efficiently have taken it's place.

I guess vernal alfalfa is on it's way to becoming extinct like many of the real paleo foods have. It's getting really hard to find. It's a shame because there was nothing like it. It is truly a magical food though not as magical as those mushrooms I suppose...

[surfsteve]

Interesting. I just looked up the Latin name for vernal alfalfa and it is

medicago sativa

Who knew?