A few days ago I was craving Spring so I decided I would grow some wheat grass. It's cheap, it's easy, it's a lot faster than forcing bulbs (I don't have much patience) and it's green. I love green. I've never grown wheat grass before and I was amazed at how fast it grows. You can practically watch it growing. By day 2, I was seeing tiny sprouts and by that evening, green was starting to appear. Day 3, and the grass was already to the rim of my planter (it had grown about an inch) and Day 4, well let's just all be glad we don't grow wheat for our lawns because we would be mowing every other day. Day 5 and my wheat grass is now about 4 " tall.

So, want to try it? Here's how:

Materials:

Some type of  shallow planter, bowl or basket lined with plastic (this would be so fun to do instead of that messy plastic Easter grass)

Wheat Berries (you can find these at health food stores--I had some in our emergency food supply. They have a shelf life of 15+ years if stored properly)

Potting Soil ( I think this is optional actually--I'm sure they would sprout using damp paper towels or a thin layer of sponge like sprouts come in at the grocery store.)

Water

How to:

1) Soak wheat berries in tepid water for 6 to 12 hours before planting. 2) Spread some damp potting soil in your planter to within 1" of the rim (because I used a deep planter I wadded newspaper in the bottom and covered it with plastic wrap overlapping the edges of the pail with the excess platic then trimming after I added my soil.) 3) Generously spread seads over the soil and top with a little more moist soil or damp paper towels. 4) Put in a sunny spot. ( I checked the sprouts after the first day then removed the paper towels.) 5) Keep soil moist and sit and watch the grass grow. 6) You can trim the grass with scissors if you want.

That's it. Easy, and fun.

Maybe you've seen wheat grass at a juice bar before or displayed in a store in a pretty flower pot. Wheat grass is often juiced and taken as a nutritional supplement but "Why wheat grass?"  you ask. Well, let me tell you:

"Proponents of wheatgrass use claim that regular ingestion of the plant can improve the digestive system, prevent cancer, diabetes and heart disease, cure constipation, detoxify heavy metals from the bloodstream, cleanse the liver, prevent hair loss and help to make menopause more manageable. There is, however, no medical nor scientific evidence to support these claims, although there is a great deal of anecdotal evidence to that effect.

One of the most popular claims about wheatgrass, and one that is frequently made by both supporters and retailers, is that a 30 ml  shot of wheatgrass is as nutritionally valuable as a kilogram of green vegetables. . .

The chlorophyll molecule is similar in structure to hemoglobin leading some to believe that wheatgrass helps blood flow, digestion and general detoxification of the body. " (from Wikipedia).

Personally, I just like the way it looks and think it's fun. What do you say? Why don't you give it a try?