Super food - How to Grow Wheat Grass

The many healing properties of wheat grass juice are all over the internet, and by just drinking 2 ounces of wheat grass juice a day, is proported to assist the bodies immune system to overcome many of the diseases we suffer from.

Wheatgrass is one of the richest sources of vitamin A and vitamin C, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, sodium, sulfur, zinc, cobalt, and protein,1 ounce of wheat grass juice is equal in nutritional value of approximately two and a half pounds of vegetables, if you are in any doubt about how good it is for you.

Resources say wheat grass boosts the metabolism, reduces fatique, assists in cleansing the liver, improves the complexion, cleanses the blood, suppresses the appetite, calms the nervous system, promotes regularity, and the chlorophyll present in wheat grass neutralizes toxins in the body and helps prevent ageing. The chlorophyll also stabilises blood sugar levels.

A complete food and a super food at that!

I have been researching many alternative medicines, and last week after dialling a wrong number to a herb farm, spoke to a young lady who said her mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer (my diagnosis also) and swore drinking wheat grass juice assisted her in fighting this deadly and nasty disease!

Some may call it a coincidence, maybe it was, maybe it was a God moment, it doesn't matter , I decided it was worth a shot, and if nothing else, it wouldn't hurt, so started my research on wheat grass.

I can't say I'm thrilled at the idea of drinking grass juice, as kids we used to grow wheat seeds on a saucer lined with cotton wool placed on the window sill. I still remember the excitement when the shoots finally started pushing their way up and before long, we had a saucer full of soft green wheat grass, we would occasionally chew the shoots (which is good for you as well), we didn't juice it though.

You do need a special juicer to extract the juice from the grass, and I purchased an electric Lexen juicer from ebay, although there are hand models that are much cheaper.

After finally getting through to the right number of the herb farm, I spoke to the proprietor there and she agreed wheat grass juice was amazing. I laughingly asked her about the seeds, and yes, you can use wheat seeds that you feed to the chickens, although many people will suggest you use other organic varieties, which can be quite expensive.

So how do you grow wheat grass.

It really is very simple, and people have different ways of going about it, from soaking for one to three days, planting in soil, planting on paper towels (yes paper towels), and of course growing the seed hydroponically. The trick is keeping the seeds moist.

It can be as expensive, or as cheap as you want it to be. I have included a video at the end I found very useful, now I will explain how I started my first little wheatgrass crop and improvised with the tools.

I bought my wheatgrass from the supermarket after trying health food shops, and being unable to get any from them.

When I got home, I found a large empty coffee jar, washed it out thoroughly, and placed a cup full of wheat seeds in the jar. Following the instructions I then washed the wheat seeds and drained them by placing an old stocking over the top of the jar secured with an elastic band.

Fill the jar half way with water (I used filtered water), wrapped an old hand towel around the jar (to keep it dark, and also to soak up any water that might leak out) and placed it in the cupboard in my bedroom.

The next morning, I drained the water through the stocking and rinsed the wheat seeds again with fresh water, drained them and re-wrapped the jar in the hand towel. I noticed there was just the beginnings of tiny little shoots starting to appear on the seeds to my delight. I repeated rinsing and draining then covering the jar at least twice a day, for three days. You can do this before you go to work, and then repeat it when you get home. and before going to bed.

Some people leave their wheat seeds in a bowel, and place newspaper over the top followed by a clean rag to keep the light out.

Now comes the time to plant these little wheat seeds. So what to plant them in. Well just about anything. A glass pie dish, a plastic tray or container (an old ice cream container), an old baking dish (although not made from aluminium, just incase it leaches), just have look around and see what you have got lying around. Or go visit your hardware store or nursery and get some plastic seedling trays from there, along with some potting mix if you want.

You can use soil from the garden if you want, some people say to use fertiser, some not. I chose to use some liquid seaweed fertliser mixed with water, there are many different opinions on what to use, if anything, so it is up to you.

There is even a video showing you to use wet paper towels, and these work just as well, they have to be kept moist though, and if you live in a hot climate, be careful they don't dry out too much.

Whatever you decide to use to grow the wheat seeds in, spread them out fairly thickly over the soil or paper or whatever medium you are using, and then cover with some wet newspaper or towel, or place another container over the seeds to cover them, to keep the light from getting to the sprouts.

Many people use newspaper, although one person was against this as they were concerned chemicals might leach out from the paper. If you are concerned wet a clean rag or hand towel and use that instead.

Check on a regular basis and keep your growing medium moist (not flooded). Drain any excess water out of your container and in a few days the shoots should have pushed the paper or towel or whatever you have placed on top up as they grow. Once they are approximately 1 inch tall, remove the cover. You should have a crop of pale shoots now.

Now it is time to place them where they can get some sunlight. Sunlight is needed to turn the shoots green and this is important as chlorophyll is one of the properties so beneficial to our health. You can place them by a window, or outside, making sure they don't get burnt if it is really hot, and keeping them moist by using a spray mister. or water from the side, draining off any excess so you don't get any fungus growing.

Once the shoots have grown to about 7 inches, approximately 9 days, it is ready to be harvested. Yay!

Use sissors, or a shart knife, and cut fairly low. I have heard you should cut the whole crop, and place in a re-sealable zip lock plastic bag (one of those sandwich bags) and place in the fridge where it will keep for a week. The reason for this is, the wheat keeps growing and if it gets too tall, loses some of the nutrients.

So, now you are ready to juice your first batch of wheat grass. For juicing wheatgrass, you do need a special juicer to extract the juice, and as I haven't received mine yet, I can't tell you how it tastes.

I have heard you can cut the wheat shoots up small and blend them in a blender with other fruits and vegetables, not acid type ones eg: tomotoes and drink it that way. Sounds good to me if you find the taste offensive, and you will not need to purchase the juicer, you will need to have a blender though.

From all accounts, it is sweet tasting, and one person said they didn't really enjoy the taste, but because of the many health benefits, drank the juice anyway. It is recommended to have about 2 ounces of wheatgrass juice a day, followed by the same amount of water, or juice if you prefer. You can also add pineapple juice and mint, or apple and berries to the wheatgrass juice. Don't add acidic fruits or vegetables as wheat grass is alkaline and it's beneficial to keep the alkaline content high.

Sometimes fungus can grow around the bottom of the wheatgrass shoots, if this happens don't worry, it's harmless, and just wash the harvested shoots well under the tap to get rid of it.

Cats and dogs really love this stuff, so if you don't want it for your own benefit, grow some for your pets, they will thank you for it and it will do them the world of good.

You can mix a little of the juice with your pets water, or just leave the wheatgrass shoots where they can nibble on it when your pets want to. Wheatgrass is also good for guinea pigs and pet rabbits.

Here is a link from you tube which explains the wheatgrass process step by step and is excellent. I prefer to soak the seeds for three days, and it is important to keep them away from light during this stage.

Enjoy and happy wheat juicing!

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