While you can’t grow much in Maine in January, you can grow sprouts – and if you plant them now, you can be eating them in about a week.

Back in the 1970s, it seemed like everyone had a quart-size mayonnaise jar with a screen-top lid, which they kept on the back of the kitchen sink. You would put the seeds in the jar, soak them for a couple of hours and rinse them daily, until they started to sprout.

Pinetree Garden Seeds, a seed company in New Gloucester, sells the seeds – order them now at superseeds.com and expect a harvest quickly. It isn’t hard, but if you want guidance, add an instructional book, “Homegrown Sprouts” by Rita Galchus, for $24.95.

Add the sprouts to sandwiches or salads or just snack on them.

We used to use a sandwich-seed sprouting mix, which is still available for $3.25 for 3 ounces. You can also buy a munching mix at $3.25 for 4 ounces and a salad mix at $3.25 for 2 ounces.

Many more seeds are available, including sunflower, wheat, barley, kale, clover, onions, bean, lentil, green pea, broccoli, mung bean, garbanzo, mustard and Chinese radish.

Glenne Gray, who answered the phone at Pinetree, said the seeds are still quite popular, although sales were down last year. “I hope they aren’t fading out,” she said. “They are really good for people, and inexpensive.”

And, I would add, they add a nice crunch to a sandwich of leftover turkey – if you had turkey for your holiday dinner.