How to Grow Wheat Berries
Wheat berries are small, hard, round seeds with a dark brown color. When planted, they sprout with wheat grass, a nutritious dietary addition for both humans and animals. Humans add it to salads and juice it, valuing it as a superfood because it provides calcium and many vitamins. Pets such as cats and birds like to snack on wheatgrass; it helps their digestion and gives them vitamins, too.
Wheat grass grows quickly when the berries are properly planted, making it a good windowsill herb. Wheat berries are very inexpensive, costing only a few dollars for several pounds.
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Instructions
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Pour about a pound of wheat berries into a large, shallow bowl. Cover the berries with room-temperature water and let them soak for an hour. This softens and rehydrates the seeds so they sprout more easily.
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Fill a shallow planting tray with a 2-inch deep layer of potting soil. Wheat grass develops shallow roots and doesn't need much room to grow.
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Drain the soaked wheat berries and spread a single layer of them over the soil. It doesn't matter if they touch, but make sure they aren't on top of one another.
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Spread a ½ inch to 1 inch of mature compost over the wheat berries. This gives them extra nutrition and acts as mulch. Water the berries lightly; if you have a drip tray, empty the excess. If not, water so the compost is just damp, not wet or soaked.
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Cover the seeds with a piece of dark plastic or another seed tray. Check on it after several days, and for small sprouts forming. Uncover the seedlings and place them in a sunny area. When your wheat grass is 3 inches to 4 inches high, it's ready to use.
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References
- Photo Credit wheat field image by Florin Capilnean from Fotolia.com
