Grow Your Own Easter Grass!
This project is a fun way to welcome spring into your house. If you celebrate Easter, you can create a special Easter basket to display eggs or to leave out for the Easter Bunny to fill. (Hint: Bunnies love to nibble on fresh, green grass.)
Here’s how you do it:
1. Find a basket or other container which you want to use. Line the bottoms and sides of the basket or container with one or two layers of tinfoil. (Make sure you don’t leave any holes, or when you water your basket, water will leak onto your table.) If you have a really big basket, you might want to add a layer of stones to the bottom, for drainage. I used a small basket and didn’t need the stones.
2. Add a two-inch layer of potting soil to the basket. Moisten the soil so that it’s damp, not soggy. Use about ¼ cup of water for every two cups of soil that you use.
3. Sprinkle a layer of fast-growing grass seed on the soil. We used Winter Rye seeds. (I use Winter Rye in my garden as a ground cover or “green manure” crop.) The seeds should be very close together, covering the soil. Press the seeds lightly into the soil.
4. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap over the soil to keep it moist. Set the basket in a warm (not necessarily sunny) place.
5. In two to three days, when the seeds sprout, take off the plastic covering. Water the grass lightly when needed. (I have found that my basket doesn’t need much water, but check your soil often and see what you think!) Now make sure to put the basket in a place with bright light. I didn’t put mine in full sunlight and it still did great.
6. When your grass gets long, you can trim it with scissors if you want. It will grow back. So far, my basket has lasted three weeks. Rye grass seems to like worm tea. Anyone know what that is? By the way, the grass is edible!
7. Send us pictures of your projects and we’ll put them on our blog!
Susan Levasseur
April, 2011
