Wood Block Bicycle Inner Tube Jar Survival Sprout Farm Kit

I evolved the design of this wood block and bicycle inner tube jar sprouting kit over the course of a few years. It started out just tilting sprouting jars on a drying rack. Then I was in a place without a kitchen for a while and I started tilting them into bowls with an object in the bowl that could be re-used and rinsed off to keep the sprout jar rinse water run off from seeping back into the jar. Eventually I decided to use 2x4 wood blocks and bicycle inner tube to stabilize the secure the jars. I could use small plates to collect the run-off, and the inner tube would hold the jar on the slanted wood block.

This basic design was iterated upon with the help of a professional wood worker who used wood shop tools to help get the perfect mitre cuts, the perfect sanding, etc. They were sold to friends and got on the shelves of a several stores at the peak of my development of the product. However their weight made them costly to ship and I eventually had to shift gears in my professional life and let this project fade out.

The design was a way for me to use ubiquitous salvageable materials to solve a simple problem, though with the modern high tech machining industry, the problem that this design solved can simply be solved by a custom stainless steel rack.

There are countless sprouting kit product designs out there, what I personally ended up shifting towards was simply using a large stainless steel cooking pot, laying a plate over the top, and rinsing a bit more often. I was subsisting almost exclusively on sprouts for over a year and the jars were just too small for that scale of production needs. I did however experiment with much larger jars on wider wood frames, they just seemed to be difficult to manage and prone to the risk of breaking.

This project was a lot of fun while it lasted and had a lot of educational value. In terms of teaching and promoting sprouting, the jars make it possible to see the sprouts grow over the course of a few days, which is really thrilling. My final solution of a simple pot could be equally as educational and entertaining if I were to use glass pots. Another method worth noting is that of using a large outer pot, then using a strainer pot within it that leaves enough room at the bottom for the run-off to collect after rinsing. No matter what method you use, keep trying until you find one that works best for your needs and your scale of production.