Make your Own Wheat Grass Juice
I had bought wheat grass juice from Jamba juice for some time and while I was in college in California and also my father grew and juiced his own wheat grass juice starting about 1960 also here in California. For me, it is like drinking coffee without the letdown. It is a very good way to start your day, for example. Wheat grass juice is pure clorophyl, pure liquid sunlight converted by photosynthesis of the wheat grass plant into clorophyll. By juicing it, (since we aren't cows with 4 stomachs) we get the essence without having to digest the grass itself. The effect on a healthy person eating a healthy diet is feeling very invigorated by this pure form of nutrient quickly moving through ones body.
However, if you aren't eating a healthy diet your reaction to it might be nausea at first until you get used to it. So the first time don't drink a whole ounce and definitely don't drink 2 ounces unless you are eating a very good diet to begin with. However, if you drink it and just feel a rush of pure clorophyll then try one ounce or even two ounces of it. So, it definitely isn't for everyone unless they have a really good diet to begin with.
If you are interested in making your own wheat grass juice at a minimum you need a couple of things. I make mine very simply so I'll share what I now do.
I take a cardboard flat that we get with a flat of dog food for our dogs. Then I use the cardboard as a form and put a white garbage bag over it to make a water seal so the cardboard doesn't get wet ever so the flat is completely enclosed by the white garbage bag (unused). Then I use either organic potting soil or 1 year or more old compost (your choice) about 1/2 inch to 1 inch thick over the bottom of the now plastic completely covered flat (that once carried dog food) then I get wheat grass seeds (from Whole Foods or other health food store or online) and completely cover the soil or compost. (by the way you can grow sprouts without soil or compost but I prefer to let the wheat grass have nutrients in addition to water). Also if you grow it in soil or 1 year old compost it is easier to drain off the water.
Also, don't use most outdoor hoses made in China to water what you intend to later eat because most of these hoses have lead in them and are unsafe to drink from at any time because of the high lead content that will leach into whatever you water with them. So don't use them on things you want to eat later.
So, I use only household water containers to water my sprouts like water kettles from the stove or large glasses of water or pitchers of water.
The next step after you cover your soil or compost with seeds(I put them thick so all soil is covered by at least one seed. However, you can do whatever works for you.)
Then I take a paper towel and put it over the seeds so I can water them without scattering the seeds when the water hits. Also, the paper towel can hold moisture and help incubate the sprouting seeds. Then I cover the tray of sprouting seeds for three days, moistening them on each day and then recovering them again. If you put too much water and are worried you are drowning the seeds carefully put your hand on top of the paper towel and carefully slowly tilt the excess water out. Don't be afraid to make mistakes with all this because this is the only way you can learn to get really good at this. So, after three days of moistening them so they will germinate, put them in direct sunlight for a day and see how they do. After three days under cover you should see little teeny green sprouts just starting to come out of some of the seeds barely. If by 5 days or 6 days you don't see any sprouts it is possible that the seeds you have are too old or you drowned them( one of the two) or possibly you didn't wet them enough). So, experiment until it works for you. So, after the seeds start to sprout you have to remove the paper towel unless they are under a few inches (the sprouts). Once they get about 3 or more inches tall continue watering them once a day and then a few minutes later or right after watering you want to drain off the excess water. The tap roots that should be visible in the soil by the time the sprouts are 3 to 4 inches long will help to keep you from draining off soil after 3 to 5 inches in height. By the time the sprouts are 7 or more inches tall they are ready for the first harvest. Don't cut them so close that you kill the plants and prevent a second harvest. So you want to leave about 3 to 4 inches of height on the plants so they can continue to grow for a second harvest of Wheat Grass sprouts. Also, if you are drinking wheat grass every day start a second tray of sprouts about 4 to 7 days after you start sprouting the first one. I suppose if you are really going through a lot of wheat grass you could start a third tray and even have 3 or more trays growing in a staggered fashion about that are started 4 to 7 days after each other and just keep going like that. Experiment with what works for you. If you make it fun then it also can be a learning experience for your kids. Also, I often make alfalfa sprouts and mung bean sprouts. However, then I just use a Ball canning jar with a Screen lid for easier rinsing. The screen lid and just seeds allows for growing sprouts without any kind of bug or pest getting on your sprouts. Other kinds of sprouts also each need to be watered and drained each day. Experiment with what works for you. The nice thing about learning to sprout is that someone could literally almost live on something like organic baked potatoes, organic steamed brown rice and sprouts if they had to if they were low on money and be very very healthy, as long as they drank enough good water.
The second batch of wheat grass seeds I got from Whole Foods never germinated and I realized that either the seeds were too old or exposed to something that killed them like radiation at one point or another.
So, I went to another local health food store and bought some there and they worked fine.
After about 7 to 12 days you can harvest your wheat grass for juice with a knife or scissors. You can harvest twice on the same shoots but remember the first harvest likely will taste the best. Then what I do is to plant the sprouts in the back yard to give them a chance to go on living a while if they wish. However, what you do then is your own choice.
The images below are different wheat grass juicers. I prefer a simple hand crank to anything fancy so mine is the picture to the left. I think if you click on each picture it might take you to where you might purchase one like the picture. I'll test for that after I publish this.
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