Heather’s wheatgrass-growing adventure began 14 days ago.
Days 7-14
My wheatgrass crop has grown very quickly over the last week! From 1.5 inches tall on Day 6, it was 7.5 inches (with some grass at 9 inches) on Day 12:
Wheatgrass on day 12
The roots have come through the holed-flat and look fairly healthy:
Wheatgrass roots on day 13
(Yes, I know the bottom flat is dry — I watered right away once I noticed! This is not a best practice. Progress Earth says: “Feed from the bottom with a 5ml per quart solution of Tonic before the bottom tray is dry.”)
My instructions from Progress Earth also recommend that the grass “be at least 6-7 inches high before juicing. The taller the grass, the more juice.” A local nutritionist has told me that 14 days is the ideal harvest point for wheatgrass, so I’ve held off until today to try my first juice.
I am very tempted to invest in a proper wheatgrass juicer, but for now I’m stuck with improvising. I hope I don’t offend any hardcore wheatgrass enthusiasts with my make-shift strategy!
Heather’s Offensive Make-Shift Wheatgrass Juicing Strategy
Inspired by my friend Rachelle, I’ve decided to use my food processor to try and juice my first wheatgrass harvest. This is admittedly not ideal, because:
- a food processor will “tear” rather than “press” the wheat grass
- I will likely have to add water, which dilutes the effectiveness, nutrition and flavor of the juice
But at least I’ll get a taste!
So here we go:
Step 1: harvest the wheatgrass
Progress Earth recommends harvesting only a little bit each day, since the juice is most effective within the first 15 minutes after juicing.
Step 2: chop the wheatgrass into smaller pieces so it doesn't clog the food processor
Step 3: use a food processor to get some juice out of the wheat grass! I did have to add a small amount of water. Ah well.
Step 4: strain as much juice as possible from the wheat grass
Despite the juice being diluted with the water, I’m impressed with how much juice came out of the grass.
Okay, here we go. I’m quite excited about trying my own wheat grass juice: the only time I’ve had wheat grass juice before was as a shot at Booster Juice, and I always had to order a drink afterward, as a chaser, since the juice tasted so disgusting. I’m not interested in wheat grass juice for the taste, though: I want the nutrition! (And it’s been a lot of fun growing wheat grass — the lush flat makes a wicked centerpiece for a coffee table!)
I get a glass of water ready as a chaser.
One, two … three.
Oh. It’s not disgusting! It’s actually really nice. I don’t even need the water-chaser. It’s surprisingly sweet and yummy. I feel very … earthy. Like a sunny lawn. This must be how earthworms feel.
With my flat of wheatgrass growing taller by the minute, I feel strangely wealthy. It only took a patch 2 inches by 2 inches to make a shot of juice, even with my inefficient food processor method, so I’ve got a month’s worth of juice in a single flat, at a shot each day. That’s a lot of healthy juice! Especially in the winter, when my immune system is a little more vulnerable, and fresh vegetables harder to come by. AND I still have that second set of wheatgrass-growing supplies that came with my kit. Progress Earth recommends starting that second flat at Day 5 to 10, to ensure there’s always harvestable wheat grass. I guess I’ll have to invest in a juicer!
Thanks for coming along on my wheatgrass-growing adventure. I appreciate all the comments and suggestions. I’d love to hear about your own wheatgrass experiences and best practices, so please post your comments below.
Happy growing,
Heather
good stuff heather! you’re a pioneer, imo.
i got a question… it says at the bottom of your post that the peeps that sell the kit say:
“Progress Earth recommends starting that second flat at Day 5 to 10, to ensure there’s always harvestable wheat grass.”
so does that mean you’re dependent on having seed to keep this crop around for any length of time or can you just cycle a few flats so you always have ‘mature’ wheatgrass?
i have grass in my front yard, and when i go mow it it usually grows back and i do it again in a week or so… so surely you could offset a few batches of seed to have a supply always available without having to buy more seeds, right?
and a second question… how much juice do you need for a week? like if i wanted to grow my own wheat grass and i wanted to have a 1oz shot every day, how much wheat grass do i need? have you had the time to calculate all that? i guess it may be dependent on getting a really efficient juicer, but at the rate you were growing, how much woulda ya need to stay grass rich?
ok, third and final question… do you have to make it (the juice, that is) when you use it or can you make a couple days or weeks worth at a time? what is the shelf-life of the anti-oxidant properties?
thanks for the write-up! it was really cool… and i liked the idea of the wicked centerpiece just as much as the wheat grass shots! you rule
Thanks for the comment, JJ! I expect my wheatgrass to grow back from where I’ve cut it down — I’ll watch it and update you all on the regrowth. I haven’t even started my second flat for this very reason. When I measured out how much grass I took for that first shot, it was only a 2″ by 2″ patch, and I estimate there are at least 27 equal-sized patches left in the flat, so that’s 27 more shots (with no regrowth). That’s a lot of shots!
As for seeds — you can buy whole wheat seeds at your local health food store, which should sprout & grow just fine. Progress Earth’s kit is “designed to be used perpetually” (according to the instructions), although I might need to refill my Tonic supply and replace the coir if it gets funky.
It’s hard to respond to your question about how much juice you’d need to have a 1oz shot every day, since I’ve only used my inefficient food processor. Hopefully someone else will know that. With my food processor, my flat will last me 27 more days at a shot per day.
Re: juice shelf life, Progress Earth says: “the juice will keep up to 10 days in the refrigerator and up to several months frozen.” That said, they do recommend the juice is consumed within 15 minutes after juicing for top nutrition/flavor.
Thanks again for the comments and questions! It’s been a pleasure watching my grass grow
Fantastic wheatgrass blog! I try to turn people onto growing their own any chance I get! I’ve been growing mine in a thin layer of soil and yes they grow back after the first cut, but after the second the growth seemed to be stunted. Let me know if you are having a similar experience. Thanks again for your blog, you should really start feeling a new sense of health growing greater and greater over the next few weeks! Keep us posted!
Thank you!
Great work Heather! You really need to get a masticating (pressing) juicer instead of the pulverizing juicer. Cows have four stomachs to digest the fibers of the grass, humans do not, so the pulverizing juicers are not ideal; that being said, way to use what you got!!! Progress Earth sells manual juicers that work and are cost-effective.
To comment on some of the questions being raised by Jungle Jim:
1) You can definitely re-grow the flat of wheatgrass after you harvest, but you need to know that each re-growth has less nutrients than before, so we recommend only two or three re-growths of the grass, then compost the mat, or feed the mat to the chickens, they LOVE the roots.
2) How much juice for a week? Half a flat is about 7+ oz.
3) The best, most nutrient dense and vital juice is the juice consumed right after the nectar is extracted. That being said, you can absolutely store the juice in the fridge/freezer. As Heather mentioned, 7-10 days in the fridge, 3+ months in the freezer.
Progress Earth sells a liquid mineral sole product in our wellness division called Thalasselixer, which contains all earthbound minerals married with BOTH fresh and fermented wheatgrass! The fermentation process helps to create enzymes and nutrition not available in fresh wheatgrass. This concoction is a probiotic, and because the wheatgrass is contained in a total salt brine, it never spoils!
Cheers to you, Heather, happy juicing: let me know when I can send you a juicer!
I soooo want a kit for christmas! Beats a chia pet set any day.
Awesome blog: I’m saving the pages in my hard drive.