Skip the cellophane variety: Grow your own Easter grass with a $5 kit

If cellophane Easter grass goes into your shopping cart along with chocolate rabbits and jellybeans, here are three reasons why you should leave it on the shelf:

• If eaten, it can harm the digestive systems of pets, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

• It can trap birds’ feet or get wrapped around their necks, according to PetMeds.

• It can’t be recycled, said Nancy Kuhajda, master gardener and program coordinator at the University of Illinois Extension Will County.

But Kuhajda said you can grow your own live Easter grass with a $5 kit and a 30-minute program she’s presenting on Zoom at 6 p.m. March 23.

Each “Garden to Go Kit” will contain wheatberry seeds (a whole-wheat kernel), potting soil, an instruction sheet and miniature basket. Registered attendees can pick up their kits after 9 a.m. March 22 at the Will County Extension Office, located at 100 Manhattan Road in Joliet.

Can’t make 6 p.m. March 23? Register for the program anyway.

Kuhajda said she’s recording the program so people can watch it later. People should see a short strands of grass in about seven days, she said.

“It’s a very simple, quick growing process,” Kuhajda said. “It’s also very ecofriendly and family-friendly.”

The resulting grass doesn’t have to go into Easter baskets, either, she said.

“It’s also used in some table displays,” Kuhajda said. “Some people like to have a living centerpiece that goes on the spring table.”

If the grass gets a little long, it can be “mowed” with scissors, Kuhajda said. When you’re done with the grass, she said, you can put it into outside flower beds or compost bins.

“It turns into a natural product again,” Kuhajda said. “No leftovers.”

Register for “Grow Your Own Living Spring Easter Basket Grass” at bit.ly/3qJo8r6.

For information, contact Kuhajda at kuhajda@illinois.edu or 815-727-9296.

To make natural Easter egg dyes from food, visit this 2019 Herald-News story at shawlocal.com/2019/04/18/use-food-to-dye-easter-eggs-this-year.