Staging/Decorating on the Cheap!: April 2017

Did you know there are several veggies that you can grow from scraps? Yep. How much money would you save and how much quicker, tastier and healthier would your dinners be if you could just step outside and pick whatever you needed? Let's look at a few veggies that you should never have to buy from a store again.

Garlic

You can grow a new bulb of garlic with just one clove. Plant a clove in some potting soil with the roots face down. Now in case you're new to gardening, there is a difference between a garlic bulb and a garlic clove. I have included a photo below to show you which is which. Keep the pot in direct sunlight and cut the shoots back once they get established. This will help encourage bulb growth. After the bulb has reached maturity, take a clove and repeat the process for more garlic.

Bean Sprouts

You can get a new batch of bean sprouts with as little as a tablespoon of scraps. Soak the leftover sprouts in a jar with a little bit of water. Leave the mixture on the counter overnight and drain in the morning. With the sprouts back in the container, cover with a towel and rinse them the following morning. Repeat the process until the new sprouts reach the right size.

Celery

Celery might be the easiest vegetable to regrow. Simply cut the base of the celery stalk and place in a bowl with warm water. Keep the container in sunlight and you will start to see the stalks thickening and growing from the base. Once this happens, transplant the veggie into soil to finish the growing process.

Avocado

Regrowing this superfood takes just a bowl of water and some toothpicks. Wash the seed thoroughly and suspend it over a bowl of water with some tooth picks inserted into the seed. The water should cover about an inch of the seed. Do not place the bowl in direct sunlight, but keep it somewhere warm. Add water on a daily basis as needed. A stem and roots will begin to appear, but it might take as long as six weeks for this to happen. When the stem gets to six inches in height, cut three inches off. Place the plant in soil once leaves start appearing.

Sweet Potatoes

You need half a sweet potato to regrow a new plant. Suspend the half of the potato with toothpicks over shallow water and wait for roots and sprouts to appear. When the sprouts hit about four inches, break them off and put them in a bowl of water. Once the roots in the new bowl reach an inch, it’s time to transplant to soil.

Potatoes

Like the sweet potato, regular potatoes are a resilient plant that can be regrown with just a few peelings. The trick is to make sure the peelings have eyes and are cut into smaller pieces. Now you might say....what's an eye?....I have included a photo of potatoes with eyes. Notice the bumps that stick out on the potatoes? Those are called "eyes". You may have to do a little searching at the store to get potatoes with eyes these days as a lot of potato producers have them rubbed off before shipping (I don't know why). They rub off super easily. Each section should have about two or three eyes. Let the peelings dry overnight and then plant them in soil to a depth of about four inches. In a few weeks, you will begin to see a new potato plant sprouting leaves.

Lettuce (practically any type) and Cabbage

It's easy to regrow lettuce and cabbage with just a few scraps. Pour a small amount of water in a bowl and place the lettuce scraps inside. Make sure the bowl gets a lot of sunlight and mist the lettuce a few times a week. In three or four days, you will begin to see new roots and leaves growing. At this time, remove the lettuce or cabbage from the bowl and place in soil.

Onions

Onions take a bit of a different approach. I have included a link to a site that gives very good step by step instructions on how to regrown onions. Short article with great step by step photo's and great information. Well worth a read.