Wheatgrass
I bought a wheatgrass kit about three months ago. I was so excited to grow my own grass and juice it for my morning smoothie. I imagined zen like thin planters of perfectly grown grass strategically hung in planters on a blank wall or even lined up down the center of my table. When I received the kit I realized that growing my wheatgrass was not going to be pretty.
I also realized that growing my own wheatgrass was going to take a bit of effort and if you have read my other posts you realize that my time has been extremely limited as a single mom with a toddler, four cats, and a full time job.
I opened the kit around Valentines day and found five or so large (probably 3 ft long by 1 1/2 ft wide) trays with holes in the bottom (hello dirt!). The kit also contained a few bags of compost and fertilizer and a number of bags of wheatgrass seeds. The seeds needed to be rinsed and soaked. Yes I know this isn’t rocket science but the rinsing and soaking instructions were enough for me to put the entire kit in my pantry closet until today. Now let me explain why I suddenly have a bit of time on my hands to grow my own wheatgrass.
In a bizarre series of events, I lost my job a few weeks ago. I had worked my ass off for this guy, working through my lunches and never taking a personal call, never sending one personal email, and not even socializing with anyone in the office. I was really too busy (and the boss frowned openly on socialization at the office). My boss was a slave driver who gave me the work of three people and expected me to stay until it was done. As a single mom, I did not have the luxury of staying late unless my 22 month old daughter could learn to drive herself home, fix herself dinner and a bath, and hop into bed.
I asked my little Napoleonic boss if he would ever consider an alternate work schedule such as six days a week because day care was not working out for my daughter. That was the Thursday before Easter. On Monday morning Little Napoleon called me up and reamed me a new one for being unproductive and lazy and a bunch of other ridiculous accusations that flew in the face of all of my excellent reviews and prior praise. I assumed he was just venting but I guess I am getting too old and cranky to put up with that crap so the next day I let him know I wasn’t happy about his tirade (after he kept telling me how beautiful my work is). He sent me home (presumably on a time out) and when I spoke with him a few days later he said I should be working in a different environment and I no longer had a job.
But I digress. I am not going to dwell on the absurdity of what happened or how I am hoping karma sends Little Napoleon to his next life as a tapeworm. I am also not going to ponder what kind of a person puts a hardworking, never late, enthusiastic domestic violence survivor, single mother on the street with no severance and no warning.
I should also mention that I am really trying to make lemonade. I didnt even realize how much I missed quality time with my daughter and consequently we are really making up for lost time with long walks, leisurely playtime, and snuggles, snuggles, and more snuggles. That should explain why I am finally getting around to growing my own wheatgrass.
Today was a spectacular day. The weather was beautiful and my daughter was up from her nap cruising the backyard with the cats. There was a beautiful breeze and I was basking with my coffee and I figured I had put off the wheatgrass kit long enough. I dragged it out and although it wasn’t quite as intimidating as I first thought (with the stress cleared out of my mind) it still was messy.
I am relieved that I waited till spring because I filled the trays outside and they still made a huge mess of my counters when I brought them in. Apparently the first few days in the wheatgrass cycle should be in the shade so I cant keep them outdoors unfortunately. Even if the new grass could handle the sun I am not sure that the trays can handle the wind because as I was filling the tray it took off across the lawn.
I really wasn’t sure how to rinse the seeds. I guess in a colander? I held my hand over the top of the glass and let the water run out along with a few too many seeds. I am afraid I am going to have wheatgrass growing out of my disposal in seven days. I am going to have to figure out a better rinsing method for the next round.
I also did not have a large enough glass container to soak the two cups of seeds so I split them up between a vase and a rocks glass. I do have a few plastic containers but I am so leery of the toxins in plastic and I am trying so hard to go organic that it seems hypocritical and quite mad actually to soak wheatgrass seeds in a container that could leech toxic chemicals into my blood cleansing super drink.
So that’s it for today. The planter is ready and the seeds are soaking. I am going to sprinkle them across the tray first thing in the morning and cover them with paper towels and spray them with a water bottle until muddy water comes out the holes. I think the instructions said to do this over the sink. I repeat, this isn’t a clean endeavor. My digital camera seems to be on the fritz but I think I can take a flash free photo in the morning to document what the “kit” looks like across my kitchen counter and how the grass is progressing.
Update 1.5 yrs later:
I have grown wheatgrass a few times since and I learned that unless it grows outdoors with sun and wind, the mold is just too much to handle. Supposedly hydrogen peroxide spray will help but it didn’t for me. I will stick to my freeze dried wheatgrass in Vitamineral Green by Healthforce Nutritionals which I simply love anyway. I am disappointed by the wheatgrass mold issue and if I find a different sprouter that works better I will update again.
April 9th, 2009 at 8:24 am
Good stuff you wrote. Moreover i will say herbal medicines for this purpose. Herbal acne treatment always work for me and and my family and even there is no side effects to use Sharkne herbal treatmetn, a popular acne pills of my area.
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:31 pm
We are now starting to learn more about herbal medicines as an alternative treatment for our needs. It is great to hear your story on planting a wheatgrass and how you came up with a good fully grown one. I think with what you are doing keeps stress and depression away.
Keep it up and hope to hear from you again.
January 28th, 2010 at 12:31 am
Great work! We are now starting to learn more about herbal medicines as an alternative treatment for our needs. It is great to hear your story on planting a wheatgrass and how you came up with a good fully grown one. I think with what you are doing keeps stress and depression away. Keep it up and hope to hear from you again.
January 28th, 2010 at 10:45 am
I like the health benefits you can get from wheat grass I just wished it tasted better. I just can’t get over the taste of it to drink it on a regular basis.
February 4th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Herbal medicine — also called botanical medicine or phytomedicine — refers to using a plant’s seeds, berries, roots, leaves, bark, or flowers for medicinal purposes. Herbalism has a long tradition of use outside of conventional medicine. It is becoming more mainstream as improvements in analysis and quality control along with advances in clinical research show the value of herbal medicine in the treating and preventing disease.
February 10th, 2010 at 2:31 pm
Sorry to hear of your job loss a while back. Some people can never appreciate a good thing. You encountered some problems there growing your wheat grass. My wife has gone on a health spree lately and I think she may have tried growing some before because we had something similar growing along a window. I obviously didn’t ask what it was because it eventually ended up getting tossed. I will have to pass on freeze dried wheatgrass in Vitamineral Green by Health force Nutritionals you mentioned, to her. Thank you for your post.
March 26th, 2010 at 1:58 am
It seams much easier than growing flowers for me. I like how wheatgrass looks in my kitchen – it makes spring in my life.
August 9th, 2010 at 11:35 pm
Great post. Thanks. I just added your site to my myspace page.