Friday 12 October 2012

How I Grew My Own Wheatgrass at Home (Quick & Dirty Method)

Buy some organic wheatberries. I got mine from the local organic and health food store. About RM10 per kilo. I used about 3 handfuls of wheatberries.




Day 1: Soak overnight in filtered water.

Day 2 and Day 3: For the next 2 days, rinse the wheatberries every 12 hours or so, and keep covered with a moist cloth.

Day 3-4: When you see tiny tails shooting out of the berries, move these to trays containing potting mix. I recycled some food containers that would otherwise be thrown away.
Day 5: These look like little, pale spring onions.

Day 5-12: Place the tray where it will receive some indirect light, for example your kitchen window or front porch, or balcony. Make sure there are no animals that might disturb the tray, or even worse, burrow in it! :-)

Day 7. Looks promising :-)

Water everyday. Either spray/mist lightly, or carefully pour water at the edge of the tray. Don't overwater, unless you have to be away from home for a few days.

Day 12: When you see the beginnings of a second shoot on your wheatgrass sprout, you are ready to harvest!

Day 12: ready to harvest!


I harvest a couple of inches above the roots for safety reasons. Don't want to get any dirt or nasties into my wheatgrass.

I harvested 1 and a half containers today. The slightly longer grass was from when I harvested yesteday. 


Then I juice them using the manual juicer below:

Yield: 1 1/2 tablespoons, according to my measuring cup here.
Smell: Mossy.

Taste: Slightly leafy but overwhelmingly sweet. I drank it neat, no addition of sugar, lemon or water.

Verdict: A bit tedious having to rinse and water but after a while it gets easier. Now I might try having several staggered batches going on at the same time. I might start a new batch every time I get to the point where I move the wheatberries onto potting mix. So fresh wheatgrass everyday.

Warning: If you are new to green juices, it is a good idea to start slow, because excess green juice can cause diarrhea. I started at 1/2 tablespoon, and am slowly working my way up to 2 tablespoons or more. Also drink on an empty stomach so the juice can be digested quickly. I once drank wheatgrass juice after lunch and I had a LOT of flatulence.

Main reference: Wheatgrass Greenhouse

13 comments:

Umm AA said...

wah.hebat ni mma ponkey grow wheatgrass pulak...sweet without sugar yerr...? effective yer utk reduce gass? if you let the plants to grow without harvest boleh harvest wheat tak nanti..

Ibu Qistina said...

ape dia punya benefit eating wheatgrass ni ya?

Mama Pongkey said...

Ummu Aidan,
Ha ah manis tanpa gula. Tapi sayugia diingatkan saya ni dah biasa minum kopi hitam tanpa gula, jadi mungkin lidah saya ni dah sensitif dengan gula, sikit aje dah rasa manis. Hmm menarik jugak projek tanam biar jadi gandum... Hehehehe. Org kat kedai organik kata boleh harvest 2 kali wheatgrass ni. Dah harvest kali kedua nanti, boleh tanam lak, tengok apa jadi.

Ibu Qistina,
Saya minum ni atas saranan kawan supaya zat dalam wheatgrass ni dapat diserap dengan cepat di dalam badan. General health. Kata kawan saya, kalau nak pakai sayur hijau apapun boleh. Sebelum ni saya pernah juicekan kailan, sawi, selasih, peria katak yang dipetik dari kebun rumah. Saja nak try wheatgrass fresh pulak, selama ni beli yang powder bancuh sendiri je. Generally speaking, green juices ni boleh bersihkan dan cantikkan kulit. Kata kawan yang lain, blackheads saya pada muka dah banyak tak ada. Sedangkan dah 2 tahun saya tak ke facial :-) Skincare pun yang simple sangat, wash with facial bar once every 3 weeks. Moisturise with virgin coconut oil sekali sekala. Dah dekat setahun saya amalkan. Green juice ni pula sejak Ramadan.

TukangKebun said...

Saya suka tanam, tapi malas nak buat juice...hehehe...
Very healthy!

Mama Pongkey said...

Saya suka tanam, suka buat juice, suka minum juice, tapi malas cuci juicer???!!! How???!!! Hehehe. Cuci dalam keterpaksaan. Sebenarnya senang je nak cuci.

suka suka said...

Salam..akak pernah minum instant. .cosway..dah lama tak minum..jenis yg ta istiqamah..btw teruskanla. .sama je kita malas basuh juicer..so dah guna kena cepat2 clearkan appliance

Anonymous said...

nice post..thanks 4 sharing..btw nk tanye, kalu utk buat juice tu,kita blend guna blender biasa je then tapis bleh tk?

mat jon said...

jus tu macam pegaga je, ada rasa macam pegaga tak? boleh cuba jugak ni..

Mama Pongkey said...

Anonymous,
Saya tak pernah cuba blenderkan wheatgrass ni. Wheatgrass ni tinggi seratnya, dikhuatiri khasiatnya tidak dapat keluar sempurna kalau diblend. Harus 'diperah' oleh juicer. Itu yang saya beli juicer yang murah sahaja, dari Cosway. Selain wheatgrass, boleh cuba sayuran hijau lain sebagai juice (perah) atau blend (cincang halus-halus). Saya suka memetik sayur kailan, sawi, kemangi, rainbow chard etc. untuk dicampurkan menjadi green juice. Kadang tu saya campurkan timun atau jambu batu untuk membanyakkan juicenya, serta penyedap mulut.

Mat Jon
Saya minum jus pegaga yang dah dicampur dengan peria katak, sawi, celery dan timun, jadi tak pasti apa rasa jus pegaga sahaja. Rasa jus wheatgrass ni manis, tapi baunya macam lumut sikit.

Anonymous said...

Salam. Menariklah tanam wheatgrass ni. Nak juicekan wheatgrass ni, any juicer ke?

Habibah Mohamed

Mama Pongkey said...

Yes Bib, I use a manual juicer from Cosway. I paid about RM30 for it using some coupons I had. Sebab nak pastikan betul nak ada habit juicing sebelum beli yang mahal-mahal tu. Tapi kelemahan dia, kena pakai kederat sikit nak juice. Wheatgrass senang aje, yang mencabar epal, celery... pendek kata buah tu kalau nak pakai juicer manual payahlah sikit. Daun ok je.

Aizan said...

Fantastic post! May I know where exactly you got the wheat berries from? I'm thinking of growing some myself.

Mama Pongkey said...

I got mine from an organic shop. I am pretty sure I saw some at Empire Gallery, at the organic shop at the lower basement.