Growing Wheatgrass for our Green Juice Recipes

We’ve been on a green juice recipe “kick,” lately, and I’m hoping it becomes permanent. I’ve had a Jack LaLanne Juicer for YEARS, and it’s always sat in storage, since it wasn’t a priority to have in the kitchen all of the times that we have moved. With this last move, I knew we’d be here a while, so I kept the juicer out.

I FINALLY wiped the dust off, and started juicing about a month ago. ALMOST every morning, I whip up green juice recipes, and send my husband out the door with one, and give the remainder to my kiddos. To my surprise, they’ve loved every single juice I’ve made, (especially this carrot apple juice) and I plan to share those with you soon!

At a recent “Smoothie King,” visit, {a fantabulous place to get smoothies and juices}, my husband ordered a shot of wheatgrass, and LUUUUVED it. I  wondered why I wouldn’t be able to do the same at home, so I began researching it, and to my surprise, it was totally easy. PLUS… it became a learning activity for my toddler and I to do, and he had a BLAST!

How we grew our own wheatgrass:

I grabbed some sheets, and covered our work area. {I knew throwing together a toddler, sand, and potting soil, would cause a MESS.}

To grow the wheatgrass for the first time, I wanted to use mason jars, so my son could see the layers of the sand and potting soil, and follow along while the grass was growing.

I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to find wheat berry seeds locally, so I ordered some online, and they were delivered right to my doorstep!

Our first “to-do,” was to layer sand on the bottom, so the soil would be able to drain when watered.

Next, add the potting soil. I’m sure each plant didn’t need the amount that he was adding, but he had WAY too much fun with this, and I didn’t have the heart to tell him it was too much.

After about 20 minutes of convincing my toddler that the wheat berry seeds weren’t “nuts,” he was ready to add them to the jars. The directions I had found online said it was best to “soak,” the wheat berries before planting them. I had forgotten to do this, so I thought I’d wing it, and it turned out just fine, without soaking them.

I couldn’t believe I could just lay the seeds on the top, and they’d grow, and I had to see it to believe it myself. {So it ended up being a learning experience for myself too.}  🙂

I’m sure the best way to water a wheatgrass plant, is to “spray,” it with water… and not “pour,” water on it, but scooping it out with his hand was WAY more fun. 😉

They were all done! Ready to sit on our counter in the kitchen, and watch ’em grow!

Playtime! I couldn’t let the leftover potting soil and sand go to waste. {I will admit that I regretted playtime afterwards because you talk about a MESS.}

They were all done! They sat on our counter, and after just one day… they were sprouting!

.

After 7 days, they were SOOO ready to crop and juice.

We will definitely be doing this again, but I think next time we will do it in cookie sheets, so we can grow a lot more at one time. This itty bitty batch didn’t contribute much to our green juice recipes. 🙂

Until next time…