Growing sabzeh (mung beans) is just one of the fun tasks that children can get involved in during the run-up to Persian New Year (Nowruz).
The sabzeh is one of the seven S’s of the Haft Seen spread which we have referred to in a previous post here.
Sabzeh is one of the first things you need to get ready for the spread as it takes a couple of weeks for the sprouts to grow to a good height. We have chosen to use mung beans for our sabzeh this year because they grow quickly.
Here is our guide on how to make growing sabzeh fun with the kids – whether you’re Persian or not!
You first need to add the sabzeh to your chosen containers, which little C loved helping with. He carefully spread out all the mung beans. Then he covered them with water and we have now let them soak for a few days.
You need to ensure that you change the water daily. Having soaked the beans, you’ll notice that there are little white sprouts starting to stick out. That’s when you need to cover them with a moist paper towel.
Following this, you need to sprinkle the beans with water once a day. We do this before leaving for pre-school, so little C gets to do it. The paper towel always needs to stay moist.
Once the beans begin to grow, remove the paper towels and continue to sprinkle with water on a daily basis. From here, just continue to sprinkle some water on them and watch them grow until New Year on March 21st.
We’ll update our post once the beans have sprouted fully! For more on our previous Persian New Year activities, click here. You can also find out more about our celebrations here too.
Saffron and Cyrus is a Newcastle-based family lifestyle blog, covering diversity, self-care, days out, travel, reviews, recipes and more from our family life.
The blog is written by new mum over 40, Aranda, with input from hubby H and four-year-old Cyrus.
