Wheatgrass: Nourishing Humans Since Ancient Egypt

Flats of beautiful wheatgrass from The Union Square Grassman

I’ve passed by the Union Square Grassman countless times in the Union Square Greenmarket, but this is the first time I’m writing about his beautiful blades of wheatgrass. Just looking at his booth makes me relax and remember to breath.

The Grassman himself is Stewart Borowsky. He grows all natural wheat grass and salad greens in a warehouse in Gowanus. No chemicals or fertilizers. Only green green grasses.

Wheatgrass itself is actually the sprout from a wheatberry. You can buy a pot or tray of wheatgrass at the farmers market, and it will last for about 2 weeks, so you don’t have to use it all immediately. Wheatgrass consumption can be traced all the way back to Ancient Egypt. Today, most people juice the blades to make it easier and quicker to absorb the nutrients (potassium, vitamins A, C, E, K and B6 plus thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, iron, zinc, copper, manganese and selenium, not to mention chlorophyll).

Wheatgrass is thought to help aid digestion in cats and dogs. You can also share it with your rabbits, hamsters, birds, turtles and other pets you may have in your New York apartment. My sweet kitty used to love it. He’d devour an entire tray of it if we let him.

The Union Square Grassman is one of the few vendors who sell at all four weekly greenmarkets in Union Square (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday). You can also have trays of wheatgrass, sunflower greens (rich), radish sprouts (tangy) and pea shoots (mild) delivered directly to your door via Good Eggs.

I don’t have a juicer, so I will add some wheatgrass to my blender smoothies. It may take a bit longer to digest, but I feel like I’m getting more of the valuable dietary fiber. As the Ancient Egyptians used to say, you can never have enough fiber.

~Karen Seiger, Markets of New York City