They require no sunlight, no soil and no fertiliser to grow and take a matter of days to produce one of the most nutritious foods on the planet weight for weight. With such amazing health credentials you’d think world governments would be shouting their qualities from the rooftops – but hey, that’s politics for you.

Seeds and pulses are already considered a very healthy addition to your diet but to cook them in boiling water rather than soaking and sprouting them is to loose out on the extra benefits available from mother nature.

For example, a grain of wheat, increases its vitamin E content 300% after only 2 days of growth and the B2 vitamin riboflavin jumps from 13 milligrams to 54 mg in the sprout. In general, b vitamins can increase 300% to 1400% depending on the variety.

Before a seed, bean or nut has been sprouted it contains enzyme inhibitors; these enzyme inhibitors prevent the seed bean or nut from growing. The unsprouted seeds, beans and nuts when eaten are hard to digest as the enzyme inhibitors hinder our own bodies enzymes from digesting the nut / seed / bean. Sprouting de-activates the enzyme inhibitors present in the seed nut or bean and makes it easier for our body to digest the seed nut or bean. Because sprouting makes it easier for our bodies to digest the food we are able to gain more nutritional value from the sprouted food when compared to the same food in unsprouted form.

While the taste and flavour may take a little getting used to for the average western diet consumer the health benefits of sprouted seeds are leaps and bounds ahead of just about any other food. Why buy expensive vitamin and mineral supliments when a handful or two of sprouts added to your salad not only give a far more natural alternative to pills and tablets but also offer the additional benefits of a multitude of live enzymes, a necessity to food assimilation that the body struggles to produce as it ages.

Sprouts contain both vitamins, minerals, proteins and fiber, as an example Alfafa sprouts contain iron, magnesium, all 8 of the essential amino-acids, chlorophyll, vitamin A, vitamin B2, vitamin C, vitamin D, fibre and more….

In this day and age of processed and convenience foods it is of great comfort that sprouts do not contain any artificially added chemicals, additives, preservatives, E numbers etc. Sprouts are eaten in their natural form, when a sprout is at its optimal growth point it simply needs to be rinsed in water to make it ready for eating. This means that sprouts are a valuable toxin free food source that even uses its own stored energy to complete the process.

The most common types of sprouts include: Mung, Aduki, Alfalfa, Radish, Sunflower, Beetroot, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrot, Leek.

Farmers' markets are a traditional way of selling agricultural and homemade products.  These markets are renowned for providing locally-grown and very fresh seasonal produce.

People maintain that farmers' markets allow farmers to pick their produce at the peak of its flavour, which preserve the nutritional value of fresh produce, and since locally-grown produce does not travel vast distances to get to your table, the difference in mileage helps reduce its carbon footprint.

Trenython Manor's Family Fun Weekend is the latest addition to the Fowey Festival of Words and Music (what was the Du Maurier Festival).

The special weekend activities included:

• willow weaving with Ways With Willow
• den building
• nature walks
• pop-up book workshop
• musical performances
• a film showing of PROJECT WILD THING
• conservation and wildlife displays
• meeting popular children’s book authors, learning what inspires them and where they work
• ‘how to’ – camp fire making and cooking/ kite making/ create a bug hotel
• developing Haiku short woodland inspired poems!RA
  

• Iron (more iron than red meat).
• Calcium (more calcium than dairy).
• Magnesium.
• Mangenese, Chromium, Molybdenum, and many other trace minerals.
• B Vitamins.
• Vitamin E 

Mollases is a thick dark syrup obtained from the third boiling of a sugar syrup. It is the goodness left behind after sugar is refined.

Blackstrap molasses has been said to cure or help with many conditions such as constipation, diabetes, amenia, anxiety, acne, fibroid tumours, insomnia, arthritic pain, high blood pressure, heart palpitations and symptoms of menopause. Some people have reported grey hair returning to the original colour.

A Tablespoon a day is recommended, use as a sweeter in coffee or dilute in milk or water.

LAST MINUTE SPECIAL OFFER SUMMER HOLIDAYS

£100 OFF THE WEEKLY PRICE OF A LODGE

So a 2 bedroom Lodge (sleeps 4) is now £500

And a 3 bedroom Lodge (sleeps 6) is just £620

 Cutkive Wood Holiday Lodges

This is a non-commercial attempt from http://www.sanctuaryasia.com/ to highlight the fact that world leaders, irresponsible corporates and mindless 'consumers' are combining to destroy life on earth. It is dedicated to all who died fighting for the planet and those whose lives are on the line today. The cut was put together by Vivek Chauhan, a young film maker, together with naturalists working with the Sanctuary Asia network (http://www.sanctuaryasia.com/).

Simply Green Cornwall caught up with Graham Eccles at the weekend, he set up his own Postal service around the  Bude area, in response to the high cost of Royal Mail Postage stamps. Find Penny Farthing Post on facebook here

What a fantastic day we had during the Seal Survey today. Seals, Common Dolphins, Gannets, Razorbills, Guilliemots and our first Sunfish of the season all spotted from on board "Atlantic Diver" with the best crew of Wildlife Surveyors...MORE PHOTOS AND FULL STORY

Open Farm Sunday Hundreds of farmers across the UK open up their farm for one Sunday each year. An opportunity for everyone, young and old, to discover at first hand what it means to be a farmer.

Open Farms in Cornwall 

Aubergine, broad beans, broccoli, carrots, courgettes, fennel, lettuces, mangetout
new potatoes, onions, peas, radishes, rhubarb, rocket, runner beans, spinach
spring onions, turnips, watercress

Cherries, gooseberries, strawberries

Common Comfrey, Common Mallow,  Elderflower, Fairy-ring Champignon, Good King Henry, Goosegrass, Ground Elder, Hop Shoots, Horseradish, Milk Thistle, Nettle, Rock Samphire, Sea Beet, Shaggy Ink Cap, Silverweed, Sweet Cicely,  Wild Chicory, Wild Fennel, Wild Mint, Wild Rocket Leaves, Wild Rose Flower, Wild Thyme, Yarrow