I guess by 'annual wheatgrass' you mean typical wheat? Generally any name with grass in it means some weedy or ornamental species, not grain.

I don't know much about juicing grass, other than I'm pretty sure people use common wheat, probably because the seed is very cheap via simply using eating-grade wheat berries. Since the prime juicing window is only a couple of weeks or so there isn't a lot of point to growing it in-ground, I suppose, if juicing is the only consideration. If it is also as a cover crop, then that's another thing.

I'm not sure if winter wheat is viable in z4b.

If you are interested in growing wheatgrass simply for juicing you might give growing it indoors a try. It's extremely easy; I've done it myself several times.

Wheatgrass grown from organic seed has the greatest tendency to grow the Tilletia caries fungus, which is what makes wheatgrass special. Otherwise, wheatgrass is nothing special. But it needs to be grown in really hot moist conditions for the fungus to grow. Since you are in zone 4, I doubt it gets hot enough except in a greenhouse.

Here is a link that might be useful: GardenForNutrition.org

Wayne, can you elaborate or link to sources about this fungus as helpful in the human diet?

A quick search indicates that it is potentially harmful when consumed in harvested grain. Also one might question the high heat requirement, since it is a common wheat disease in Scandinavia.

There is not a whole lot of research available. And the links come and go so I can never keep links up to date on this one.

The fungus produces a phyto-hormone which mimics human growth hormone.

Zone 4 heat might cause it to grow enough to damage wheat, but not enough to affect the human body. There is some concern this hormone might cause latent tumors to become cancerous and speed up growth. But there just is not enough research.

Here is a link that might be useful: GardenForNutrition

This post was edited by GreeneGarden on Sun, Aug 11, 13 at 7:25

And how about the best juicer for wheatgrass?

According to the review, Omega J8006 handle whetgrass better than most of other juicers. What do you think?

Thanks for the tip. I'll check it out.

I tried drinking wheat grass juice, the first time I got nauseate and almost throw up. Next time I had to add lemon and grapes to improve the taste but still not for me. I ended up giving away 8lbs of the seeds. It does occurred to me that I probably should have blended them, but there are plenty of others greens I can eat.

I use the Omega NC800, it is superb for juicing vegetable leaves. Any Omega horizontal model will do well.