Pure & Simple: Grow Your Own Wheatgrass!
You may already be aware of the hefty list of benefits that come from wheatgrass, but did you also know it is one of the fastest and easiest plants to grow yourself?
Wheatgrass is grown from the wheatberry, which you can keep on hand for salads and breads.
You can grow your own fresh wheatgrass in a matter of DAYS, and have it on hand for any number of healthy options. Here’s how!
Day 6!
1. Start by spreading a single layer of wheatberries in a shallow dish with a cover. For the first couple days, you will not want light to get in, so keep that in mind when choosing your dish.
2. Add a few drops of warm water into the dish- enough to provide moisture for all of the berries, but not enough to soak them. Cover the dish tightly and set in a warm/room temperature area. Check and re-water if needed for the next day also.
3. On the 3rd day, remove the cover, lightly rinse (without moving the berries) and recover the dish with clear plastic wrap. The berries will have started to sprout!
4. When the sprouts have grown to about an inch tall, remove the wrap and set the dish in a bright, warm area of your house. Continue to water twice a day with warm water.
5. Cut blades with a scissors to add to your juices and teas. Enjoy!
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I have several questions on the wheat grass.
I sprouted my first batch a week ago and faced several problems:
- the berries started to grow mold
- the grasses don’t look as green as in the juice shops. They are supposed to be able to produce juice twice, but I had to throw away mine due to mold…
- i used a pestle and mortar to ‘juice’ the grass. The first day, juice was very sweet. Second day it was a bit bitter. Any ideas?
- I read you are not supposed to put the grass in a metallic blade blender, due to oxidation of the enzymes. how do you process your?
Thanks a bunch for the info!!!!
Claudia
Hi Claudia! I read a ton before I started mine, and heard that mold could be a problem. That’s why I decided to rinse them. You can rinse on the 2nd and 3rd days of the sprouting period. Use luke warm water and have it run hard enough over the berries to clean them, but not hard enough to move them around. Drain and recover. Then, once they have about a 1 inch blade started, rise them every 3 days or so. Another problem with mold could be that they are not spread thin enough, or have too much water. Also, you could try removing the dark cover for a few hours each day to prevent mold growth. You could also try sprouting them in a damp paper towel, placed in a ziplock bag.
I’m not too sure about the color issue, but with other plants, that would occur from under or over watering. The water in the dish should only be enough to dampen them all. There should not be any “sitting” water in the first 5 days.
As for the bitter taste, some people say the longer it is, the more bitter it tastes. Mine is about 6 inches right now, and it tastes fine. I actually think wheatgrass can be quite bitter naturally. If you chew blade, it starts out very sweet, but the longer you chew it, the more bitter it gets. Also, someone said if you harvest it in the evening at dinner time, it will be sweeter due to sugar storage timelines. Unsure about this…
Lastly, I’ve also heard not to process it in any type of blender/mixer. I think pestle and mortar is the way to go. However, we use juicers to make green juices and such, and there isn’t an issue with that. It seems like it would be consumed fast enough after the blending process to preserve the nutrients? Hmmm…
I’m no expert on this stuff, but hopefully some of the things I tried will help you out. Good luck!!