Do your potatoes ever grow sprouts while still in the bag? What about your squash seeds, do they sometimes germinate right in the compost? While it may be unintentional, you’re on your way to turning inedible veggies into fresh food. In fact, you can maintain a productive vegetable garden seeded entirely from scraps. Just keep in mind that untreated, organic scraps will be the easiest to grow from.
To get started on your garden, here are five easy veggies you can regrow from scraps:
1. Potatoes
Once your potatoes grow “eyes” or begin to sprout, their flavour changes. Instead of throwing them away, use them to grow fresh potatoes. Here’s how:
Cut each potato into multiple pieces (about 5 cm thick) so that two “eyes” are present on each piece.
Leave them out to dry at room temperature for one or two days.
Plant them in a garden, potato sac, or tall potter under 10 cm of nutrient-rich soil.
As the sprouts and leaves grow upwards, add additional 10 cm layers of soil at their base.
Repeat this process until the potatoes are ready to harvest.
2. Pumpkins
Instead of scooping the seeds from your pumpkin into the green bin, spread them along a sunny section of your garden and cover them with a few centimetres of soil. Alternatively, you can dry the seeds to save for planting a pumpkin patch in the spring.
3. Garlic
Do you have a few extra garlic cloves left over? Plant them in the spring or fall to turn them back into full bulbs! Here’s how:
Choose a sunny, well-drained patch of soil.
Plant the cloves 5 cm deep and 15 cm apart with the pointed ends facing up.
Harvest each new bulb of garlic once the tops turn yellow.
If you want the health benefits of garlic, without actually eating it, GarlicRich Super Strength Garlic Concentrate comes in an odourless, enteric-coated softgel that is equivalent to eight cloves.
4. Lettuce
The next time you make a salad, save the nub at the base of your romaine or green lettuce head. Use it to grow new leaves by placing it in a bowl with enough water to cover 4 cm of the nub. Keep it on a sunny windowsill for easy access or transplant it into your garden once the leaves begin to regrow.
5. Celery
Just like lettuce, celery can be regrown from its base. Simply place the bottom 4 cm in a cup or jar of water and leave it in a sunny location. Transplant it into a garden or pot of soil after the new stalks form and leaves begin to thicken.
These five veggies are only a small fraction of what you can grow from scraps. Other creative options include ginger, pineapple, lemon grass, peppers, onions, and more!
This article was sourced from naturalfactors.com
