Sprouts!

As I take in all the wintering trees and plants with the husky bunches of seeds, Im made very aware I have very little knowledge of sprouts - outside of what one gets in the grocery store.

Ive been reading Katrina Blairs *amazing* book The Wild Wisdom of Weeds, and its really got me thinking. Are there any known plants or genus' that are noted for toxic/undesirable sprouts? Im sortof under the impression that many generally unsafe plants make completely edible and safe sprouts.

I feel that between sprouting and (optionally) dehydrating, a number of unnamed toxins would decay and become negligible, but again.... I don't know squat on the subject. I have my first jar of sprouts turning green right now and Im... aching with lust.

I just guessing, but I guess plants with toxic seeds would have toxic sprouts. I sure wouldn't try them, personally! Some genera of plants have both edible and toxic members - for instance Solanum and Lupinus, and not all parts of even the edible members are edible! So for sprouts, I would stick to edible seeds, personally.....

I ate part of a tomato which had ripened so much the seeds sprouted, and it was nasty, and probably a little toxic...

Har, gross! I cant even look at overripe tomatoes.
Probably sound advice...... Think tomato sprouts would be palatable?

Just found this article on the 'toxicity' of more common sprouts, and it states that what are often harmful aminos and proteins are metabolized and utilized by the seed during germination, bringing them to a completely safe and (in the case of saponins and protease inhibitors) even protective dose.

Wiki-

Important constituents of the plant are the toxalbumin robin, which loses its toxicity when heated, and robinin, a nontoxic glucoside.[18] Horses that consume the plant show signs of anorexia, depression, incontinence, colic, weakness, and cardiac arrhythmia. Symptoms usually occur about 1 hour following consumption, and immediate veterinary attention is required.

I wonder if germination-metabolism will neutralize as heat does?

If I get sick, can I drive myself to the vet or should I have my dog do it?

Greetings all. If there is anybody with experience in sprouting this type of system I'd love to hear your comments. I left the following concern on the link below.

"I've noticed that you do a fair amount of answering folks questions, so I've got a bit of a riddle for you. I've been doing this sort of tower system for about 2 months now, and I am developing problems. I've got that horrible smell you are talking about, but I have also noticed a LOT of yellow cap looking things growing on the drainage holes in the bottom of the buckets, and rarely I'll get a fuzzy or two on the green stalks. Do you think I have a mold problem or a yeast problem? What would you do?

I've improved the airflow between buckets. Twice I have increased the size/quantity of the drainage holes in the bottom of the buckets.

I'm doing about 4 pounds of seeds in the bottom of a roughly 2 gallon bucket. To maximize the amount of feed quantity/weight from my seed, I am on a 10 day rotation before I feed the sprouts to the birds. I am getting good weight, but it is extremely funky by the time it gets to the birds. Not to mention, I've been doing this indoors, as it is below freezing outside, and the smell is getting strong enough to create a disturbance in the house. Give it to me straight. Thank you."