Sabzi And Goldfish

Goldfish are one of the symbols of Persian New Year. The decorative table Persians lay out includes goldfish swimming in a fish bowl which is very beautiful. The meaning of the goldfish varies but basically it represents a happy life full of activity and movement. Fortunately I'm not the only one who thinks this is no way to treat the poor little goldfish who is swimming alone in a very small glass bowl and then gets (typically) thrown away. There's a website for people who care about this issue and suggest a kinder way: click here. 

Here's our goldfish! He looks a bit confused but at least he's not suffering.

One of the other things gracing the Persian New Year table is a big plate of sprouted wheat (sabzi.) It's meaning is easy to see: fresh growth and prosperity. I have grown sabzi before and often have some trouble (one year Rainbow ate all the green shoots) but decided to try it again. This year I wrote Saeed's sister, Nahid, for specific directions. She very sweetly wrote a long list of directions which I tried to follow to the letter.

Step 1: soak wheat in water for three days in a warm place. This was challenging as it was snowing outside and we keep the house at 65 degrees, so we put it on the mantle of the fireplace.

I also had to keep Obi from drinking the water.

Step 2: drain the water, spread the sprouted seeds on a plate and cover with a moist cheesecloth. The hardest part of this step was finding the cheesecloth in the store.

Step 3: sprinkle the cloth with water to keep moist and keep checking the sprouts for green shoots and...

... make sure they get plenty of sunlight. It was gray and miserable outside so we put the plates out of harm's way (cats' way) and set up the florescent light.

Step 4: once the green shoots are poking up through the cheesecloth remove it.

There's always a show off in every group!

Step 5: keep warm and exposed to light and sprinkle with water, but not too much.

A week later : WOOT!

Some mothers just won't let go of their kids.

Uh oh, is that mold?

A few days later and I couldn't deny it any more. Waaaaa... this has happened before. Sigh..... need to use less water next year. Sorry Nahid; you did say not too much water.

Once the weather got sunny and warm I put them out to try to encourage the growth of the shoot and discourage the mold, but mold is a tenacious beast. The plate on the left isn't looking so good.

Step 6: tie a pretty red ribbon around the sabzi.

Cats are also tenacious beasts. Hey Frosty! Quit untying my ribbon!

Hey Chappu! Quit eating the sabzi!

So even gray weather, cold weather, mold, and cats still couldn't completely thwart my project. We'll be taking the winning sabzi to Shirin and Gabriel's house where Tita will be joining us to celebrate new year. Thanks Nahid and...

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!