Grow Your Own Wheatgrass

Do you miss spring? I have a cure for you. Grow your own wheat grass!It's easy. It's fun! It will make you feel good.

I have been growing wheat grass every spring for the last 5 years. Seeing that bright green patch of grass everyday lifts my spirits and helps me feel hopeful. I don't use it for juicing - but you can. It is the same exact wheat grass that you get at juice bars. It really is good for you.

You probably have a couple of barrels of wheat right? If not, get some. It's good to have on hand should anything happen to your source of food. It lasts forever. I have had my wheat for 15 years now and it still makes wonderful bread and beautiful wheat grass! You can buy a pound of wheat berries (wheat seed) at a health food store for $1. A pound is more than enough.

Next, find some containers for your grass. Seed trays work great and are available anyplace that sells garden supplies. I also have planted in shallow buckets, Easter baskets, clementine boxes lined with plastic, bowls, trays, casserole dishes and even in cracked eggs! Anything that will hold about 2 inches of dirt and water will work fine. Drainage is nice but not necessary. If you do have drainage in your container, cover the holes with newspaper before adding dirt.

Now you are ready:

1. Soak the wheat berries in water for 10 hours.
2. Fill planter with potting soil 2 inches deep.
3. Sprinkle soaked wheat berries over damp soil. They can be very close to each other, even touching.
4. Lightly sprinkle a very thin layer of soil over the wheat. Sometimes I skip this step and it turns out fine.
   
5. Spray with a water bottle.
6. Cover with plastic wrap and put near a shady warm spot. (I keep mine in the southern window with a thick dishtowel covering it.)
7. Check daily to be sure the wheat is moist and warm.
8. After about 3/5 days you will see sprouts, remove plastic as soon as you see those sprouts and move sprouts to sunny area.
9. After 7 days you should see grass! Check daily for moisture, spray with water if needed.
   
10. 10 days after planting you should have a nice tray of grass about 6-8 inches long.

Hints:
Sometimes the wheat grass gets a little mildew - that's okay, you can't really see it, but it has that smell. When that happens I let mine dry out just a bit and move it so it isn't under my nose.

After 14 days your grass might look a little worn out. Just give it a little haircut! Cut 2/3 of the grass off and in a few days you will see bright green new growth.

After the second cutting and growth the grass kinda fades. When it looks tired, I dump the grass and soil into my garden (or flowerpot) and cover with mulch. Then, in May plant your annuals in that spot and you will have the best annuals ever!

This makes a wonderful display/gift for Easter. Easter is April 12th this year. So, If you haven't done this before, do a trial run now, and then on April 2nd start your Easter project.


Interested in wheat grass juice and how to use it? Check this out. It's pretty much a miracle food.