How to Grow Wheatgrass

You know the funny grass that you see growing on the countertops at Jamba Juice? It’s wheatgrass, and it’s so cheap and easy to grow yourself!

Growing Wheatgrass begins with sprouting.

You will need:
*Wheatberries, also called wheat grain
*Glass Jar
*Cheesecloth or similar material
*Filtered Water

I ordered Organic Hard Red Winter Wheatberries online. I got 2 lbs. for less than 5 dollars.

1. Pour a couple inches of wheatberries into jar
2. Cover with filtered water, at least 2 or 3 inches above the seeds. (they soak up a lot of water!)

This is what they look like about 12 hours later. You can see that they’ve gotten plumper.

3. 12 hours later, drain off soak water and rinse well

4. Make sure you drain the grains very well, or they may rot.
5. 12 hours later, rinse and drain again.

When you’re draining, make sure you hold the cheesecloth on very tightly, or this may happen:

6. 1-2 days later, you should see little sprouts off the end of the grains.

7. If you let them sit for too long, they might become bitter. I’d suggest tasting them after 2 days. They should be slightly sweet and wheaty tasting. I’m sure wheaty is not a real word, but that’s how I would describe it. They actually taste pretty good and you can eat them just like they are now.

I ended up transferring my little sprouts onto a cookie sheet, because they were staying a little too wet inside the jar. I left them covered with a clean towel until they looked ready for growing grass.

Here’s a close-up of a sprout ready for growing.

• In addition to preparing seeds for growth, sprouting provides many health benefits. Sprouting increases the protein, vitamin, mineral, essential fatty acid, and essential amino acid content of the seeds. It also increases the enzyme content, which aids in digestion and availability of nutrients.

To grow wheatgrass from these little sprouts
You will need:
*A seedling tray or something like it
*Organic potting soil
*Filtered water
*Some sunshine!

1. Fill tray with a couple inches of organic potting soil and pat it down lightly. I couldn’t find a seedling tray, so I bought these cheap baking trays at Wal Mart.

2. Toss the sprouted wheat evenly across the top of the soil. If you look closely at the picture above, you will see that I am tossing in sunflower seeds and not wheatberries… It’s a long story, so it would be great if you could just pretend they are wheatberries.

You don’t want to see too much soil, and you don’t want to make it too thick either. This is just about right.

3. Water the sprouts with filtered water, and cover with another tray or anything that will keep them in the dark. You could even put them in a dark cupboard- just make sure they aren’t exposed to light

4. Take cover off after 3 days, and you will see little shoots that are white or a bit yellowish. I am pretty sure mine look yellow because the seams between trays let in a little bit of sunlight. But, it still turned out just fine.

5. Now, set the wheatgrass by a sunny window (or on the floor by a sliding glass door like I do. Just make sure you move it out of the way before your husband comes home from work, or he just might trip over it.) The sun will help the wheatgrass grow and turn green.
6. Water with filtered water about once a day. On hotter days, water twice.

7. Once the wheatgrass reaches about 6-8 inches, it is ready to juice. (It isn’t grown for eating, because our bodies don’t do so well at digesting grass)

• Wheatgrass Juice provides chlorophyll, amino acids, minerals, vitamins, and enzymes. The structure of chlorophyll is very similar to hemoglobin, which is a component of our blood. Some believe that this aids with circulation. Chlorophyll is also said to have some antibacterial properties. Some other claims about wheatgrass juice: it helps neutralize toxins, purify the liver, improve blood sugar problems, help prevent tooth decay, and help with skin problems.

Soon, I will show you how you can “juice” wheatgrass even if you don’t have the specialized wheatgrass juicer. (A regular centrifugal juicer that works great for most fruits and veggies can’t handle the grass)

It’s so exciting to watch this stuff grow!

What Next?

• How to juice Wheatgrass