Sprout Garden - Revised Edition

Rating:
Summary: A relatively comprehensive though dogmatic reference.
Review: As a professional sprouter I have plenty of experience - and - have read every book under the sun on sprouts. Mark's book is full of terrible puns but when it comes to information on a wide variety of seeds is better than any other I have seen. It still suffers from the same problem as all the others - it states THE WAY to sprout. I have found that there are many ways to sprout and very few hard and fast rules. The result is that newbies follow the written advice and refrain from experimenting - thus limiting their sprouting experience and, I fear - the joy of that experience. It seems to me that everyone who writes books on sprouting must have read a book before they ever sprouted and that they eventually pass on the same misinformation they originally took as fact. I on the other hand didn't read a book until I'd sprouted for a year or more, and when I did I read that things that worked well for me couldn't possibly work at all. So, take what you read with a grain of salt and know this: seeds want to germinate (sprout). If you expose them to moisture they will do it, so sprouting is nothing more than making the the conditions good. Experiment freely. Happy Sprouting :-)

Rating:
Summary: A relatively comprehensive though dogmatic reference.
Review: As a professional sprouter I have plenty of experience - and - have read every book under the sun on sprouts. Mark's book is full of terrible puns but when it comes to information on a wide variety of seeds is better than any other I have seen. It still suffers from the same problem as all the others - it states THE WAY to sprout. I have found that there are many ways to sprout and very few hard and fast rules. The result is that newbies follow the written advice and refrain from experimenting - thus limiting their sprouting experience and, I fear - the joy of that experience. It seems to me that everyone who writes books on sprouting must have read a book before they ever sprouted and that they eventually pass on the same misinformation they originally took as fact. I on the other hand didn't read a book until I'd sprouted for a year or more, and when I did I read that things that worked well for me couldn't possibly work at all. So, take what you read with a grain of salt and know this: seeds want to germinate (sprout). If you expose them to moisture they will do it, so sprouting is nothing more than making the the conditions good. Experiment freely. Happy Sprouting :-)

Rating:
Summary: A very complete, helpful guide
Review: I have read several sections of books on sprouting, and have sprouted off and on, for 20+ years, but this is the best, most detailed, and therefore most helpful of everything I've found. I think teaching someone to sprout from a book is a little like learning to tie your shoes by book: it is easy once you've done it a while, but very difficult if you are a rank beginner. This book is written completely enough for the true beginner, but with LOTS of information for those wanting to "take their sprouting to the next level" by trying scores of different seeds. I finally learned WHY I didn't have success with some types of seeds, and WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT! The only disappointment is that the nutritional information seems mere assertions, with no charts of which sprouts yield what amounts of which nutrients; still, the book is very worth owning. And, by the way, sunflower sprouts are divine on a salad!

Rating:
Summary: A very complete, helpful guide
Review: Mark did a great job of updating this book! It is packed with a whole lot more info (not that the 1st edition wasn't packed as well) and is layed out beautifully. All I said in my review of the 1st edition still goes, but I now kinda enjoy the puns and the additional info makes this book even more indispensable. This is the BEST BOOK ON SPROUTING that currently exists! When all is said and done this is what remains: We (The Sproutpeople) have grown over 180 tons of sprouts (by hand) - from over 70 types of seed - since 1993, and when we have a question that we don't know the answer to, we pick up THIS BOOK!

Rating:
Summary: Sproutguy's revised review of the Revised Edition
Review: Mark did a great job of updating this book! It is packed with a whole lot more info (not that the 1st edition wasn't packed as well) and is layed out beautifully. All I said in my review of the 1st edition still goes, but I now kinda enjoy the puns and the additional info makes this book even more indispensable. This is the BEST BOOK ON SPROUTING that currently exists! When all is said and done this is what remains: We (The Sproutpeople) have grown over 180 tons of sprouts (by hand) - from over 70 types of seed - since 1993, and when we have a question that we don't know the answer to, we pick up THIS BOOK!