How To Easily & Effortlessly Grow Wheatgrass At Home

How To Easily & Effortlessly Grow Wheatgrass at Home

(Dedicated to Sonia).

While spending time in the hospital with one of the people I love most in the world after he had surgery, I found inspiration.  I was pleasantly surprised when my loved one’s hospital ”roommate” turned out to be a perfect match for him as far as personalities go.  Because of this, in the midst of a long hospital stay, there was laughter and positive energy all around us.  That in and of itself was pretty awesome.  Where I found the inspiration was from the roommate’s wife.  Not only was she bright, funny and a joy to be around, she inspired me and got me thinking…

As I was speaking to my loved one about juicing and how beneficial it would be during his recovery and beyond for him to get back into this regimine when he returned home from the hospital, this wonderful lady chimed in during our conversation and shared with us how much benefit her husband received from juicing during and after his cancer treatments.  She made sure that she articulated how he juiced a lot of “greens,” such as kale and spinach, and that their favorite juice was made from wheatgrass.  Seriously, I was elated!  Someone was speaking my language:  Wheatgrass…  Woo hoo!  Any type of healthy living or health-related conversation gets me excited, and I could almost not contain myself and my enthusiasm as I rushed to their side of the room to talk about this subject with her and her husband.

During the brief conversation that took place, she expressed how challenging it had been for her to find fresh wheatgrass and that she has resorted to ordering it online.  “Oh, it’s so easy to grow it at home and at a fraction of the price you pay in the store,” I exclaimed.  “I’ll teach you how.”  I love to help, so this made me so happy to share this information with her.

I have been growing organic wheatgrass on and off in my own home since the late ’90s.  It is easy to grow and even more nutritious than buying it in the store, as you cut it fresh and juice it right away.  I shared with this lovely lady the way that I do this, and she seemed more than pleasantly surprised.  I am dedicating this post to her as my inspiration for sharing this information on my blog.  Thank you, Sonia.  :0)

First of all, what exactly wheatgrass? 

WebMD defines it as follows:

“Wheatgrass is the young grass of the wheat plant, Triticum aestivum. It grows in temperate regions throughout Europe and the United States and can live indoors or outdoors. Many people grow their own wheatgrass by putting wheat seeds in water and then harvesting the leaves.

Wheatgrass is a natural source of vitamins and antioxidants, including:

• Vitamins A, E, and B-12
• Calcium
• Selenium
• Magnesium
• Iron

One ounce of wheatgrass juice is equivalent to the vitamin and mineral content of 1 ounce of fresh vegetables.”

The Ann Wigmore Institute states:

“Wheatgrass juice is an effective healer because it contains chlorophyll, all minerals known to man, and vitamins A, B-complex, C, E, and K. Wheatgrass is extremely rich in protein, and contains 17 amino acids, the building blocks of protein.”

So you want me to eat grass, you ask?  Well, no.  Not exactly.  Wheatgrass should not be eaten in the grass form, as we, as humans, do not have the stomach to digest it.  It should be juiced.  Once juiced, you will find that wheatgrass tastes very sweet, not at all what I expected the first time I did a “wheatgrass shot,” as it’s affectionately referred to.  It is best if you start slow when drinking wheatgrass.  Begin with a one-ounce shot and build up from there if you so choose.  Too much too soon can cause nausea and a detoxifying effect.  I was taught that it is best to take your wheatgrass shot on an empty stomach or add it to other fresh juices to receive optimal benefit.  It is a fantastic addition to a healthy lifestyle, and the energy that it gives you is like taking a rocketship to the moon.  Yes, it’s that good.  ;0)

How to Grow Your Own Wheatgrass:

The best way to grow fresh wheatgrass is by using cafeteria trays (the ones you use to carry your plate, fork, drink, etc., on when you go to a school/hospital cafeteria).  You will need two trays to grow one tray full of grass, so make sure when you purchase the trays that you think about how much wheatgrass you will want to be growing on a monthly basis.  If you want to grow a new tray every week (which is ideal), then buy at least eight trays.

As far as the wheatgrass goes, you can buy organic hard wheat berries at your natural food store in the bulk bin. This works perfectly fine.  You can also purchase them from The Sproutman.com, Heirloom Organics or Mountain Rose Herbs.  Once you have your seeds, you will soak a cup of these organic hard wheat berries in spring or filtered water overnight to begin the germination process.

It is important to make sure you have organic soil when growing your wheatgrass, as it is simply not necessary to ingest added pesticides, herbicides or who knows what when growing your wheatgrass.  Next, spread the organic soil in the cafeteria tray so that it does not come over the side of the tray, about a half-inch of soil approximately.  Take the one cup of soaked and drained organic wheat berries and sprinkle them all over to cover the soil in the tray.  Lightly water the soil –  I drizzle a little tiny bit of water over the seeds.  Do NOT drench the seeds.  Then take a very tiny bit of organic soil and put over the sprinkled seeds to cover them up, just so you cannot see the seeds.  Do NOT add too much soil.

Take an empty tray, flip it over (so the bottom of the tray is on top) and cover the prepared wheat berry/soil mixture that is in the bottom tray.  This will create a dark environment for the seeds to sprout.

Next put your seed tray aside.  It does not need to go into a dark room, etc., as it is dark in the middle, now that the tray is on top of your wheat berry/soil mixture.  The seeds will sprout in a couple days and begin to lift the top tray up and off of the bottom tray.  When this happens, remove the top tray and put the growing wheatgrass in a sunny location.  It should take 7 to 10 days to reach maturity.  Water as needed.  The wheatgrass will grow beautifully and be nutritious and delicious!!  Harvest the wheatgrass weekly, and it will continue to grow.