Note: This post was written in the days before social distancing was a thing. If you need potting soil or grass seed, and stores are closed in your area, call a neighbor or friend to see if they have some to loan/give. They’ll likely be happy to leave it outside their home for pick up. (Grow an extra to fill with treats as a ‘thank you’?)

A plastic bowl or food storage container will work as a substitute basket liner. Make sure it is several inches deep, and does not have drainage holes.

My siblings are some of the cleverest people I know. Each one is a creative, whether an artist, writer, maker, cook, or all of the above. Six years ago, my sister Allie was here with her family for Easter. When we woke up on Easter morning, our baskets contained fresh grass and of course the Easter Bunny had filled them with goodies. I’ve wanted to try this ever since, and it will soon be time to gather supplies and get to planting!

If you’d like to try this, sow the seed 2-3 weeks before Easter. If planting rye seed, two weeks should be plenty of lead time.

Here’s what you’ll need:
Easter baskets
Plastic liners sized to your baskets – I used (2) 8 inch, deep saucers
Potting Soil
Grass Seed – Rye seed is best, it germinates quickly.
Spray bottle with ‘mist’ setting

One of my baskets is slightly smaller and shorter than the other, so I trimmed the lip of the liner to fit the basket.

Place a generous layer of potting soil in the basket liner. Sprinkle an even, heavy layer of grass seed on top of the soil. Maintaining thorough seed coverage, gently scratch the seed into the surface of the soil. Spray with water to soak the seed. Place the liners in a sunny area of your home and mist the seed heavily every day.

Keep the top layer of the soil moist, but not soaking wet. Once the grass sprouts, mist it daily until it grows to the desired height. The picture below is one week of growth. Yes, it really is neon green!

I was amazed at how quickly this grew! In less than two weeks, my grass was looking like troll hair, so I gave it a home job haircut. Because of the quick payoff, this is a really satisfying project to do with kids; and I’m sure the Easter Bunny will appreciate the #soextra effort.

Be sure the Easter Bunny does not water the grass before filling the baskets on Easter morning. It’ll be fine for a day or two without water.

I have it on good authority that when E.B. needs to prop tall items in the basket, she pokes bamboo skewers behind them and secures using clear tape. (Yes, Easter Bunny is female, and we know this because she never forgets a holiday!)

No Easter baskets at your house? No worries. I’ll post some other (zero calorie) ways to use fresh grass in your spring decor.

Quack!

I hope you give this little gardening project a try! If you do, I’d love to hear about it in the comments or via email at:
arthurized dot home at gmail dot com.

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