Growing or Purchasing Wheatgrass

[SwishTN]

Hi!
I have read somewhere that growing wheatgrass isn't always super beneficial because it doesn't have enough time to grow and such. I ran across a website that grows it, and can ship it in frozen icecubes. Has anyone had any experience with this, and with wheatgrass in particular?
Thanks!
Lauri

[Veganmama]

On the same note can someone descibe how to grow wheat grass?

[CherimoyaMel]

Swish, I'm not sure I understand when you say the wheatgrass doesn't have time to grow.


Anyways, here are my instructions on growing wheatgrass.

Soak your hard red winter wheatberries in filtered water for 10-12 hours. 2 1/2 cups of wheatberries will expand to 3 cups after being soaked, and that is enough for one square tray of wheatgrass (you can use the plastic trays you buy at Home Depot or any nursery. They are 17 inches square.) Bury the seeds just under the soil. I use Super Soil. Keep the tray covered for 3 days. They need to grow in darkness for the first 3 days. To keep them dark you can invert another square tray, and put it on top of your tray of wheatgrass. Water the wheatgrass every day until the bottom of the flat begins to drip. Grow the wheatgrass for aproximately 3 more days in indirect light, watering every day. The wheatgrass is ready when it is 8" tall.

Wheatgrass can be grown indoors or outdoors. A temperature of 68-75 degrees is ideal. One tray of wheatgrass will yield about 16 ounces of juice on average. When harvesting the wheatgrass, cut it as close to the soil as possible (the nutrients are most concentrated at the bottom), and juice it immediately. Or you can cut it and refrigerate the blades, and they will keep for up to a week. After juicing, drink the wheatgrass immediately. The enzymes and nutrients begin to die after 15-20 minutes.

[SwishTN]

I think what I mean by having time to grow, I believe it has time to "grow" per say, but maybe it doesn't have the time necessary to mature? It doesn't have time to come to it's full capacity in nutrients... If I can find a link explaining my question, I will try to post it, or at least type the web address...
So, do you find nutritional value in the wheatgrass you grow? How do you prepare it?
Thanks!
L.

[rawjojo]

Good response cherimoyamel ~

I have been growing wheatgrass for the past year and after working out the kinks I have found that it is much more economical to grow at home in my kitchen than it is to purchase. It is really expensive to purchase trays or cubes and it costs only pennies to grow it. The only way that I prepare my grass is to juice it. Two books that you might want to check out are Myerowitz and/or Wigmores "wheatgrass" books. They are both very informative! Good Luck!

[CherimoyaMel]

Hi Swish,

I think homegrown wheatgrass has high nutritional value. It's important to keep it covered the first three days because that has been shown to give it higher nutritional value.

I always juice my wheatgrass. As I understand it, our systems don't absorb the nutrients when it is chewed.

[Sunny5000]

I've been growing wg for a few months and I'm having trouble with mold . I live in Houston were it's hot and steamy so that doesn't help. I also keep a fan on the trays 24/7. I've used grapeseed extract spray, which didn't seem to help so now I'm spraying them with hydrogen peroxide. Any advice would be appreciated.

[rawjojo]

Hi Sunny 5000 ~

I too have had problems with mold. I have used grapeseed and peroxide and neither seemed to help. I will say that the fan did help out some but the main thing that I do now is soak my seeds in the fridge overnight that way the water and seeds don't get stagnant before I plant them. It has helped a ton. Where do you purchase your seeds from? I just like to try different distributers and if anyone knows of any good seed distributers please let me know so I can give them some business. Thanks!

[Sunny5000]

I did try your method about soaking them for 24 hrs in the frig but I'm still seeing mold. It's a good thing I check the trays twice a day or I'd be overrun with mold.

I get my seeds at www.growwheatgrass.com. Her seeds seem to be in better shape than some of the other sites, being they're whole and not broken. The only problem with getting the seeds is the shipping which can be pretty high when you order 25 lbs . I got one of her systems too and it's real convenient. I have it in a corner of my kitchen and I plan on growing herbs in it soon along with the wg.