Easy Grow Wheatgrass

I’ve been wanting to grow wheatgrass but wasn’t sure where to start. With a pretty busy schedule and no idea what the process involved, I was a little hesitant to take on a new project. But after reading a few articles on the amazing healing powers of wheatgrass juice, I must admit, I was intrigued. As a fan of holistic healing solutions, this juice seemed too good to be true. Story after story extolled the benefits of drinking the stuff and I knew I had to try it. I’m curious that way. 🙂

I was completely sold when a few locals began growing wheatgrass. I thought: here’s my chance to get a personal tutorial and tutorial I received. This video was made by a local fellow working with World Wellness. It explains everything, shows everything, as well as offering a handout which I’ve included below for your convenience. I’ve also added a few personal notes for further clarification.

I purchased my seeds from GotSprouts and soaked them as directed. Sunflowers float, wheatgrass sink.

I drained-rinsed-drained-rinsed-drained, using a wire mesh for the wheatgrass and plastic colander for the sunnies.

I packed the trays with dirt and spread out my seeds. NOTE: I don’t always follow directions well and missed the fact it was 1.5 cups of wheatgrass PER tray–not total. So what you see here is 1.5 cups split between 2 trays. Duh. If you follow directions correctly, you’ll find your seeds will be more tightly concentrated resulting in a tighter patch of sprouts. Same goes for the sunnies.

Water, cover, stack and leave them alone. I placed mine in the garage and they were quite happy.  Halfway through, sprouts began to poke through. This is VERY exciting. When growing wheatgrass, there is no delayed gratification. This stuff sprouts QUICK.

Remove covers and allow sprouts to stretch upward. The photo below represents the halfway point – 3-4 days. This is when my son started to pay attention. “Mom, look at these! Can I touch them?” Apparently running his hands over top of the wheatgrass held incredible appeal.

Well, I guess I can see why. They are soft and a lovely green.

“We should grow these outside in the garden!” he exclaimed. “They could be our yard!”

I love a boy who appreciates edible landscaping! One problem, these sprouts prefer low light. Not a lot of that in Florida (Yay!).

A few days later….ta-da! Wheatgrass sprouts are ready to cut. They’re about 5-6 inches tall. There was no mold, probably because it’s a bit too cold and dry for mold right now.

 

I used a pair of regular scissors which worked fine. And because I didn’t use enough seeds to begin with, I ended up cutting half a tray to produce 2 oz. of wheatgrass juice. Next time I anticipate cutting about a third of the tray for juicing.

Here’s the Omega 8006 (thank you, Santa!). Since you need a “pressing” action vs. a “cutting” action, I opted to get the recommended juicer. Easy to use, easy to clean. Worth the investment if you intend to make wheatgrass part of your daily/weekly lifestyle.

Wheatgrass in, pulp out, juice out–almost like it was designed solely for this purpose!

Using one of my daughter’s special dessert glasses, I filled it with 2 oz. of wheatgrass juice. With great anticipation, I drank. Cheers!

It’s not delicious. A beautiful color, but not yummy. Maybe because I’m not a fan of licorice or consuming grass, but it was palatable. I felt no particular need to add any other flavors, though you might. Take a shot of pure wheatgrass before you decide. Apple or carrot would make a nice addition, if I were so inclined.

So there you have it. Growing wheatgrass is VERY easy. Juicing it is VERY easy. All in all, this is a wonderfully simple addition to a healthy diet. I’ll let you know how the sunflowers taste. They require a few additional days of growth before juicing.

 Wheatgrass growing directions