Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Wheat Grass

Came across a small cartoon which said “of course I use fowl language, what other language do you want me to use?”

Talking of Fowls, Schnabel, an agricultural chemist, conducted his first experiments with young grass in 1930, when he used fresh cut grass in an attempt to nurse dying hens back to health. The hens not only recovered, but they produced eggs at a higher rate than healthy hens. Encouraged by his results, he began drying and powdering grass for his family and neighbors to supplement their diets. The following year, Schnabel reproduced his experiment and achieved the same results. Hens consuming rations supplemented with grass doubled their egg production. Schnabel started promoting his discovery to feed mills, chemists and the food industry. Two large corporations, Quaker Oats and American Dairies Inc., invested millions of dollars in further research, development and production of products for animals and humans. By 1940, cans of Schnabel's powdered grass were on sale in major drug stores throughout the United States and Canada. This is as per what is mentioned in the Wikipedia
From what I have read , the three most important effects of wheat grass on the human body are: blood purification, liver detoxification and colon cleansing.
Some have even done studies on this to claim that it enhances the Hb level in your blood.
I have been extracting the wheat grass juice and using it at home
The procedure is simple.
Take a handful of wheat, tie it in a cloth and hang it for a day till it starts sprouting. (ensure that the cloth is always moist but not water logged)
The next day sprinkle these seeds in a shallow pot with ¾ mud (like the one in the picture) and cover it with a thin layer of mud so that the sprouted wheat is not visible.
On the seventh day cut the grass (which will be about 3 to 4 inches long) wash it and grind it in a mixer (with a little water)
Squeeze out the juice and it is ready to be consumed.
If you want to have it on a daily basis, have seven similar pots so that you can keep repeating the cycle.
Recently I realized that the wheat looses its nutritional property 72 hrs after it is planted.



Off late a pigeon has been troubling me. It started like this. After I water the plants in the morning, this bird used to come down, (when he was sure that the coast is clear) and have his fill of water. One day he discovered the wheat grains in the shallow pot and started weeding out more. Now he swoops down with his whole extended family !!
I don’t mind them using my place as a watering hole, but having the wheat as breakfast is putting a wrench in my cycle of extracting wheat grass juice.
I am trying ways and means of keeping them away.

Funny, I started this post with a bird and ended with a bird.

26 comments:

Atul said...

... this looks similar to the 'drink' catherine (Renne Russo) drinks in the movie "The Thomas Crown Affair" ... also starring Pierce Brosnan a.k.a Mr. Bond ... just curious...

charmie said...

this is also common in my country herbal drink...

thanks for dropping by my blogs..and thanks for your comment. :)

hamaarethoughts.com said...

this is avery healthy piece of information..thanks

Vinita Apte said...

wow...informative post....you seem to be an enterprising young chap...growing grass oops wheat grass :)

Cheesemakin' Mamma said...

I've never heard of this before. Thank you for sharing. Very interesting!

Nalini Hebbar said...

This 'grass' is sounds great...love you little garden too
the sparrow was a common bird when I was a little girl but now seem to have disappeared from the Indian countryside...the effect of pesticides, I guess, playing havoc with genetics

Bullshee said...

This sounds really interesting...I might actually try this! Thanks Haddock...

RamNarayanS said...

:-) You do have nice ideas and a sincere interest in sharing. Thanks.

Gouri Guha said...

Enjoyed reading your post. My neighbour grows wheat grass but he has kept 2 special big open-mouth earthen vessel, one filled with water and the other with grains for the pigeons who come down to feed their hunger and thirst.
A lovely garden space.

Corner Gardener Sue said...

Hi Haddock,
Your comment on my blog about gardening and not having ads made me smile, and come check to make sure you don't have ads on your blog. I enjoyed reading several of your posts. That henna art I forgot the name of is beautiful. It's cool the new husbands have to find their names.

This post about the wheat grass was interesting. I have some seeds that I had planned to grow in the winter, and just harvest the small plants to munch on as is, but didn't get any planted. I'm too unorganized to take very many steps with it, if I would get it planted. I hope you find a way to keep those birds away from yours.

nituscorner said...

that was real interesting. i dint know u could grow wheat in pots.

Pink Mango Tree said...

Oh Wow...!!! Need to try this out! :)

Joseph Pulikotil said...

Hello:)

Greetings:)

Wonderful information and an extremely useful post with lovely photo demontrations. Very hilarious too:)

You made everything look so simple. Fantastic.

Sometimes small experiments out of curiosity can lead to big discoveries and help a person mint money.

Have a nice day:)
Joseph

Blogs said...

Neat-O....interesting to say the least! Thanx for sharing!

M. Reka said...

Your blog is really great,I enjoyed reading it :)

Genny said...

Love this... so healthy!

heather@actingbalanced.com said...

Your blog is great and very interesting - India is on my top ten places to visit.. and I'm a foodie so I really enjoyed seeing the vegetables and foods that you encounter that I don't in the US... thanks for stopping by my blog today and you have another new follower :)

Sniffles and Smiles said...

Hello!!! So delighted to meet you!!! Thank you so much for visiting me and extending your hand in friendship!!! I love this post...so very informative...and witty, too!!! I certainly will visit with you again!!! ~Janine XO

E said...

Sounds super healthy...and fascinating back story.

Gill - That British Woman said...

I have heard of people drinking wheat grass "juice" doesn't really appeal to me.....

thanks for popping by my blog and commenting, I really appreciate that.

Gill in Canada

(I just sent my very first letter to India today, so it will be interesting to see how long it takes to get there! Been told between 2 to 4 weeks......it's going to Valsad, I think that's the town?)

Robinsgothealth.com said...

I love this stuff, not the taste but what it does for the body. It looks like the birds do too!

Thanks for sharing!

Yours in Health, Robin

Gaurav Arora said...

Hi Haddock, really love to read your blog.. very informative and thought provoking as well. I am about to try the wheat grass juice soon, and will keep you posted.
regards

Gaurav

Haddock said...

@ Gaurav & @ $$:
By all means go ahead and try it out. No harm in trying something which is beneficial.
@ Robin
The taste is not all that bad.
@ Gill
Do let me know when your letter reaches Valsad (which is no small town)
@ Elizabeth -yes its IS super healthy
@ Balanced Mom - most welcome
@@ Genny - yes its IS super healthy
@ Marinela - glad that you are enjoying it.
@ Sniffles - Me too (delighted)

Seasoned & Stirred said...

Wow, great post and the wheat grass juice looks amazing. I'd love to have a shot of that every day. Thanks for the great info!

Chloe m said...

I would love to try growing this again. Thanks for the reminder!

wheatgrass said...

This sounds really interesting...I might actually try this!