Kitchen scraps a gold mine
Don’t trash the gold, regrow it to save $$$$$$$$. This ought to be our mindset in this day and time especially with the cost of living whichever seems to be on the increase. Now is the time for us to become not only health conscious but also penny conscious because there is an old saying that goes”a dollar saved is a dollar earned.
How many of us over the years have thrown away that piece of veggie that could have been regrown instead of having to keep purchasing from the supermarket. Believe it or not, millions of dollars are being trashed every year simply by throwing away parts of vegetables that can be reused.
I have been guilty of this but the time has arrived to educate and empower ourselves on starting a home garden if only for this reason. My wife often goes to the supermarket but whenever I have the chance to go I visit the produce section
where the veggies and herbs are and it is really amazing to see the high prices. But we can counter-attack by starting a home garden that offers so many benefits besides saving money, we can also benefit from our home garden by connecting with nature by giving nature a helping hand, getting that much-needed exercise, if our families are working with us then this is a great hobby to create a stronger bond with that love one, we can not only educate our selves but our children about the importance of growing our own foods, teaching them about veggie varieties and so on.
There are a lot of benefits to starting a home garden. To be able to feed both yourself and your family is so awesome because in this way they along with you will be empowered on how to survive.
So how can we regrow vegetables from kitchen scraps?
Types of garden
Don’t have the garden space no worries because you can work with what you have and still have a home garden you can be proud of. Container gardens raised beds and growing indoor edible plants, are a great way for small garden spaces.
With that said let’s look at some kitchen scraps that can be regrown.
1. Gingers- Ginger has an awesome aroma, pleasant taste, and is good for its many healing benefits. But you can always have a fresh harvest of ginger by simply planting a piece of ginger with the buds facing the upward position in potting soil. In a week or two, your ginger plant will begin to sprout. You can repeat this process for an endless supply of ginger.
2. Potatoes- Potatoes are another veggie that can be grown from scraps. In a 15 gallon pot or large container of the same size full with soil, plant potatoes make sure that the potato peelings have at least 2 – 3 eyes and cut each peel 2 inches
The eyes should be facing an upward position when planting. Several weeks from the planting date your potatoes will begin to sprout.
3. Lettuce- Lettuce is one of my favorites, this veggie is known as a hydrated food that can keep the body hydrated. Growing this veggie is pretty simple just put some water in a bowl and add lettuce scraps.
Place bowl in a sunny location. 3-4 times a week wet the leaves with water. In a few days, you will see new growth along with roots. At this point transplant in the soil.
4. Celery- Growing celery from scraps is pretty easy, Cut the bottom of celery off and place this part in a bit of warm water, place the bowl in direct sunlight. In a week or so you will see new growth when this happens transplant in the soil until celery reaches maturity.
5. Cabbage- I love cabbages especially in soups and salads. This veggie is filled with vitamins and other benefits that can do our bodies a whole lot of good. With that said it only makes good sense to use the scraps and grow a fresh head of Cabbage.
simply put some water in a bowl and add cabbage scraps.
Place the bowl in a sunny location. 3-4 times a week wet the leaves with water. In a few days, you will see new growth along with roots. At this point transplant in the soil.
6. Onions- I love onions even though it makes me cry if you don’t believe that then just try peeling one and before you know it you will be all teary-eyed. Onions are used in so many dishes worldwide but this veggie is very easy to grow.
Remove the root of the onion leaving about 1/2 inch of onion. Cover with some good garden soil and place in a sunny location. Before you know it you will have fresh juicy onions.
7. Tomatoes- Tomatoes are fruits and not veggies even though the average person would say that it is a veggie. Growing tomatoes is as easy as 1 2 3. Just allow seeds to dry
and plant in good garden soil in a sunny location and in no time you will have a garden of fresh delicious tomatoes.
8. Garlic- Garlic is a favorite of mine, I love the aroma and the taste. Garlic has also been known to fight infections and many other health-related issues. But growing this herb can be so much fun.
Garlic grows in segments, these segments are known as cloves, just separate each clove. Make sure that the roots are down when planting in the soil. A sunny location is best for this herb.
Once new shoots emerge, cut the shoots back this will cause garlic to produce new blubs and the good part is you can repeat the process for a fresh harvest of garlic.
9. Basil- I just love the smell and taste of basil. This herb can really give those dishes that WOW. You can regrow basil by putting the stems with leaf nodes in a glass of water and placing them in a location that gets plenty of sunlight. When roots grow to about 2 inches long transfer them to pots.
10. Rosemary-Rosemary is another favorite of mine that I have been cooking with for years. This herb will surely do the trick and have family and friends coming back for more of that delicious meal.
To regrow rosemary simply cut 2-3 inches from the top of the rosemary and place them in water. When the new roots emerge, you can transfer them into a pot of soil.
11. Pumpkin Seeds- Growing pumpkins from seeds are really simple. I have seen where persons just took the seeds and thrown them out and believe it or not in a matter of weeks the seeds sprouted.
It is good to let seeds dry and when planting look for a sunny location and before you know it you will be eating pumpkin and rice, pumpkin pies, or some other delicious dish made with pumpkins. Pumpkins are also packed with vitamins and have so many other benefits.
The final word
Starting a vegetable garden from kitchen scraps can be very rewarding as you save a few $$$$$$$$$ and enjoy the many benefits that come with this hobby so start a garden of your own today and reap the fruits of your labor.
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About the author
Norman loves being in the garden, both at home and for his job....
he is 'Natures Little helper' being outdoors, growing his vegetables and flowers from an early age.
Now having spent over 22 years in the profession he want to give some of his knowledge to others...
his vast array of hints and tips you will find scattered over this site will help you no end growing plants in your garden.
Such an informative article. Your post is definitely an eye opener for me as I have never thought of regrowing vegetables from kitchen scraps. I am keen with the idea of growing my own potatoes as I am a great fan of potatoes and can now make my own mash potatoes or potato salad. Let’s hope I have green hands and will make great progress with the potatoes. I will save your page and keep you updated on the progress! 😉
Hello so nice to meet you and I am so happy that I could help, regrowing veggies can really save us a few bucks along with those other good stuff. If you need information on how to grow these veggies just take a look around on my website I am sure you will find some other helpful tips
and thanks a million for keeping me posted with your progress. Have a good day.
Excellent post Norman. I plan on growing a variety of lettuce this year in a large pot on the patio.
I have done a couple of these tricks, but I did not realize that it was so simple for the others. I love having my own herb garden, with the herbs that I use all the time. I have also grown spring onions in a glass of water.
This is great.
We have a very small garden but the idea of using scraps really appeals to my creative side.
We have a really sunny kitchen window to get things going.
I use a lot of garlic and ginger, (love Chinese food,) so it is really worth bringing on some in the kitchen window.
This has got my juices going – potting soil and small pots out of the shed.
Thanks for these tips.
Hello HappyB so wonderful to hear from you, hope all is well. These are really some neat ideas and a great hobby to get into. I am so happy that I could help, all the best to you and have a good day.
Love the idea of regrowing from scraps. I’ve done it with avocados and thought about trying tomatoes. Now you’ve put a lot of new ideas in my head.
One thing I’ve thought about is the cost comparison for buying vs growing your own. I mean you need water, nutrition, pesticide, time, etc. Is it really worth it? I do think it’s enjoyable but are we saving money?
And also, (don’t mean to be a bore but…) I’ve read that you shouldn’t use potatoes you bought in the grocery store as you can bring in infections that will give you problems for years to come.
Hello Miss Momo so nice to meet you. Growing veggies from kitchen scraps is a great way to save money not to mention growing your own crops free of pesticides. Remember by going this way you will be putting yourselve in a better position health wise. Many person are falling to illness because of harmful pesticides that are found in foods.
I believe that it is better to go this way than having to spend more and in some case much more for medicial help. This is a small investement compared to all that medical expense, besides once you have crops going you will be well on your way.
These veggies and herbs don’t require much watering, you don’t have to use harmful pesticides there are organic ones that you can use only as needed and create a compost bin and you won’t have to keep spending money on fertilizer. https://gardenofedengardencent…, https://gardenofedengardencent…
When it comes to potatoes it is safe to grow. I guess this person may have written this from their experience but based on my experience this is not the case it is all a matter of going organic such as soil which is compost and using organic or natural pesticides if the need arises.
Hope this helps. Please keep me posted if this was a help to you and let me know how it goes. Have a good day.
I knew about potatoes, but certainly not about all the other veggies (and tomatoes) that you mention. The one that, however, surprised me the most is lettuce. O my goodness, if I think of the amount of salad I chuck away regularly, when I could leave it in water to root and then I could replant. My only concern is sun – or rather lack thereof – and winter. In UK where I leave the winter months can be taxing for plants. I guess when it comes to vegetables, like lettuce, you ought to have a good regular sunny exposure?
Hey Norman,
I love this article and it’s too true there are so many plants we can grow from “scraps.” I really liked the way you discussed many of the commonly used produces that people find in the grocery store and that you can start new life from what most would assume were dead pieces.
One thing that I’m curious about is the maturity times that many of these plants require when grow from clippings? I would assume that the maturity or harvest time that each plant requires would be significantly shorter than starting each plant from a seed.
I was also wondering about regrowing turnips. Does the turnip need to still have its top vegetation for this to work or are the pretrimmed versions that are at my local grocery store viable?
Thanks for the awesome information.
-Atlas
Hello so nice to meet you, it is very amazing to be able to turn kitchen scraps in to whole plants that are alive and ready to harvest, because we are growing from scraps the time to mature is shorter.
As far as growth is concerned, I believe that the best results is with the top vegetation still in tack. Hope this helps, all the best to you and have a good day.
Great post Norman!
I always learn something new in every one of your posts. A very useful post on how to use kitchen scraps in your garden.
Wow, cabbage and lettuce too? I love gardening too and I’ve done of the regrowing you write about but never thought it is possible with cabbage and lettuce. I must give it a try.
Thanks for sharing the info.