Sunday, October 2, 2011

Project 2: The Grass is Still Greener (DIY for Busy Gals)

31 minute project

You'll need:

Planter (s)
(a mug or bowl can substitute)
potting soil/compost mix
(compost is optional)
wheatberries 
(I've used red, hard and soft wheatberries all successfully)
water
paper towels

You are going to grow this:

In pictures:

For the readers:
1. Lay down newspaper on your counter.
2. Grab some planters. A mug or bowl works in a pinch.
3.Mix equal parts potting soil and compost (compost is optional)
4. Make sure you have wheatberries on hand.
5. Fill your planters to the top with your potting mix.
Do this on the newspaper for easy cleanup.

6. Scoop wheatberries on to soil.

7. Make sure you spread a thick enough layer of berries so that you don't see soil, 
but thin enough so that sprouting berries won't crowd each other out.
8. Douse your layer of wheatberries with water.
I use the sprayer with a gentle mist so as not to wash the berries away.
I also soak them to a count of about 6 or 8 (not seconds, just count to 6)
Deeper wet soil, deeper roots.  
You may hate me for this later.

9. I wet and then thinly layer a paper towel over the top of the planter.
Don't ever, ever, never, ever let the paper towel dry out before the berries sprout.
After they sprout, one day, you will walk passed your planter and think to yourself 

"Self, I have not water those in forever"
You will look at said planter and notice that those super strong sprouts
are shooting off their dried and crispy paper towel lid.

You just watch.
Healthy, cheap, fun DIY that will be a great decor
AND healthy too!
Check out what's to come with 31 DIY projects for Busy Gals by clicking the log above.


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10 comments:

  1. Where do you buy wheatberries?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can get wheatberries at Whole Paycheck (aka, Whole Foods), Wegmans, Fred Meyer...just about any health food store of comprehensive grocery store that has a bulk food section. over where they sell the bulk rice that you can scoop out of the bins in the healthy/organic section, you can usually find wheatberries there.

      I personally bought mine from The Granery in Burien, WA. Right next to the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift store on 1st Ave.

      Delete
  2. How long do they take to sprout? How often do u water after they sprout? Sun or no sun?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hmmm...the "official" growing way (where you actually soak the berries in a sep container, keeping them moist and covered and dark until they sprout), it took about 4 days for mine to "sprout". At that point, I transitioned them over to the containers and they grew full out in about a week. Problem I had with this method is that I clipped it once then it pretty much rotted/wilted out on me from there.

      So instead of "sprouting" them first, I instead did the steps above (scooped them in to the planter, wet them down, covered with paper towels and kept the paper towels moist). This way, they actually grew (blades of grass, not just sprouts) in three days. It was a different - sunnier - time of year.

      I'm forgetful. So I would forget them and after 3 or 4 days notice that they had started to push up the paper towel as the blades of grass grew. So I watered once a week. I keep them in indirect sun.

      Delete
  3. where did you get your planters?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I got my planters at Goodwill, Bellevue. But they are Ikea brand. I looked them up when I first got them because I wanted more. Alas, I didn't find them. Good luck! I have a couple more that I think I might be giving away soon. So stay tuned!

      Delete
  4. When I grew wheatgrass it rotted really fast, any problems with that tis way?

    ReplyDelete
  5. When I grew it the "official" way (of soaking and sprouting and then planting it), I noticed that mine rotted pretty quickly. I did get one clipping out of the growing, but then it was really limp and rotted by the time I went to clip again.

    When I skipped the soaking and sprouting stage and went straight to placement on the soil, I got SEVERAL (say 6 or 7) clippings out of it. What I DID notice (however) is that it was really rooted in there by this method. With the sprout and then place method, the roots were shallow and it was really easy to scrape out the berries/shallow roots and top inch of soil and start over. When I did it this way, I had to just dump the whole container when I wanted to start over because the roots were pretty deep.

    Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Bernadette,
    New follower here!
    I can't wait to try this- really cute year round.
    Looking forward to your projects!
    Tina

    ReplyDelete
  7. I hardly comment, however i did a few searching and wound up
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    ReplyDelete

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