Growin' some wheat grass...

I bought this cute little hedgehog from Michaels a few month ago, and I love it. Its absolutely adorable and the white modern is really "in" right now. Well, after staring at it daily on my plant ledge, it started to bother me that this was the only fake plant that I own. I take great pride it my plant ledge. I have an avocado tree that I grew from a seed. I have a money tree that's lasted 3 houses and an out-of-state move. I have an orchid that's on its 3rd bloom (unheard of, I know!).


I like the "pokey" look of the succulents, but I wanted something a little different.

Grass! I want to grow grass and cut it with scissors into a mohawk..... or shall I say, a mo-hog.

I'll take a moment for that joke to take point and settle. #mohog

So after Pintersting for 3 days and watching a bazillion Youtube videos, I deemed it worthy of my next project. I'm going to grow wheat grass.



First thing first, I had to dig out the foam and fake succulents. Might I add that the person who sold this to Michaels did one heck of a job and spared no expense when it came to hot glue. A few huffs and puffs later, I had a bald hedgehog and re-purposed the succulents into some tiny drawers I had.

I went to Winco, as it is one of the easiest stores to find bulk seeds. I found one I think that said "hard wheat berry" and remember reading that was a possible option. I poured some into a pouch and headed to the register. A grand total of $0.16

This may just be the cheapest project to date.
You can imagine my glee and my instant "how can I sell these" mentality as I skipped to my car to race home and get started.

I decided to use half the baggie in case this first try crashes and burns. I rinsed the seeds and soaked
them in a bowl overnight. I rinsed them in the morning and again stuck them in a bowl of water to soak all day.

It was at this point that I thought I was doing it wrong. Although the seeds looked a little fluffy, I didn't really see any sprouts. Again, I consulted Youtube and Pinterest. A little wary, I decided to press on.

I rinsed the seeds again and spread them out on my splatter screen. I left them on the counter and covered them with a paper towel. When I came home from work, There were sprouts! Slowly but surely these seeds were sprouting.

All the videos and blogs warned that over-watering could result in mold. So, I would just rinse and lay them out all day on the splatter screen. Get home from work, rinse, and lay them out again. So far, so good. No mold.

Excited that I finally have roots and grass sprouts, I decided to transplant the seeds.
I was still worried about the mold, so I went to the Dollar Tree and bought a sink drain that I then trimmed down to fit inside my hedgehog.

I figured it would help with air circulation and would help me if I needed to remove the seedlings without destroying them.
 
As I wanted the best possible outcome, I started plucking only the seeds that had a grass shoot coming out (ie the green ones). I laid them one by one into the hedgehog.

Well, if you know me at all, I got about 1/4 through this process and deemed this taking too long. So, me and my impatient self just grabbed a handful and dumped it in the remaining bald spots.

Yay!



PLEASE NOTE:
I took this next photo intentionally to show that I have WAY too many seedlings. I filled my hedgehog and still have probably twice as much remaining.

What to do with the extra seeds?

I will probably throw them into a long tray for decorative purposes, or might just use a plate and eat the darn things.

Wheat grass is crazy good for you as it contains every vitamin you'll even need (though... ya know... it tastes like grass).

Mine is still growing, So I do not have a final photo yet...
BUT you can use your imagination at the glory that will be. Its like if these two had a baby, it would be mine!!!!
+ 
UPDATE:  I have been watering and taking care of my little grasshog for a little over a week and couldn't be more proud. He is doing wonderful and I can't wait until he is completely full.

 Do you remember me saying that I had a bunch of left-over seeds? Well, I placed them in a long wooden tray lined with aluminum foil and have been watering them just the same. Needless to say, they are pitiful. And they molded. And they are kind of drying out? I don't know, but I'm convinced the secret to the grasshog's success is the sink drain. It allows the roots room to hang down and the stems to go up. Plus I love the grasshog a little bit more, and I think plants can sense that. I'm about ready to fling the others out into my yard and call it a day, but I will try another week or so before giving up. :)