Garden

Growing Food From Scraps

kelleysdiy

Grow Food From Scraps

Did you know that 1/3 of all the food globally is wasted? Yes, it is! 1.3 billion tons gets lost or wasted or not consumed. And only a small percentage of that waste can be diverted for composting. Compost will help lessen these waste but did you know that there is a better way to save food? Read on to learn how to grow food from scraps!

Save food and money by planting food scraps. Yes, there are foods that can be regrown from scraps – without starting from seeds. Take a look at what you are throwing away. You’ll be surprised what you can grow. We love teaching our kids about recycled and reducing waste.

First things first. Aside from the common soil where plants grow, there are plants that grow in water and also dozens of windowsill plants from that can be from from vegetable leftovers. Ever grow a potato in a jar of water when you were a kid? Potatoes are not the only vegetables that can grow that way. In addition, there are plants that grows indoors or outdoors. If you don’t have the space to have an actual garden in the ground, it’s perfectly acceptable to have an organic garden in containers. Containers are perfect to grow organic tomatoes, green beans, green onions and many other organic vegetables.

Here are some of the samples you can start to grow plants out of food scraps.

Green Onions

Green Onion is the easiest vegetable to grow from food scraps. Once your finish with chopping green onions for your cooking, leave the base of the plant intact. The white part the green onions, the part with the little roots, can be used for planting. Submerge the white end with the roots in water and place in a windowsill or somewhere near natural sunlight.

A few days later, green onions will start to regrow. It starts to grow more roots and the green part of the onion grows back. Change the water periodically to keep the plant healthy, or you can transfer it into soil to continue growing. I love having several of these in my garden year round.

Grow Food From Scraps
Image via Pixabay

Celery

Celery not only provides a low-cal vegetable but it also provides other benefits such as antioxidants like vitamin C and flavonoids. These are good reasons to start growing your own celery. Plus, celery is super easy to grow from the parts you have leftover from cooking.

Just like green onions, you can grow celery without using seed. Once chopped, leaving the base of the plant intact, place the base in water. Replace water every couple of days to keep the plant healthy.

A week later, you will be able to see the difference. You’ll find small yellow leaves growing in the middle of the plant. Other stalks will start to deteriorate. Transfer the plant into the soil, either in a pot or in the garden.

Grow Food From Scraps
Image via Pixabay

Romaine Lettuce

The steps for growing Romaine Lettuce are the same as both celery and green onions. Cut off the lettuce you plan to use and leave a couple inches at the base of the plant. The romaine heart can then be set in water. New leaves will start to grow from the center and the outer leaves will die. You can transfer the plant into the soil.

Grow Food From Scraps
Image via Pixabay

Carrot Tops

You can’t actually grow another carrot from scraps, but you can grow carrot tops, which are surprisingly good to eat. They are a little bitter, but very good for you. Even if you’re not a fan of bitter greens,  a carrot top plant makes a very good houseplant, and is a great project for kids.

To grow a carrot top, you will need to buy carrots that still have the leafy tops attached. When you cut your carrots, make sure there is about 2 inches of carrot still left that is attached to the leafy top. Next, fill a shallow dish with small pebbles and water. Put the carrot tops in the pan, cut side facing down. Place the pan of carrots in the sun. Make sure you  to keep enough water in the pan, it should always just cover the pebbles. Your carrot tops will soon grow into a really interesting plant that looks something like a fern. We have also tried growing beets this way, and the leaves on it are also very pretty.

Check out How to Grow Food From Scraps! at https://diyprojects.com/growing-food-from-scraps/

Ginger

Ever ended up with ginger in the fridge and no idea what to do with it? This happens most every time I buy it for a recipe that calls for a small amount. Ginger is a great addition to fresh juice, if you like it, but leftover ginger can also be used to grown new ginger! This way, you always have plenty of ginger around when you need it.

You simply plant the leftover ginger in moist potting soil. If the ginger has started to sprout a little bit, but the new buds facing up. Ginger prefers humidity, as it is a tropical plant. The climate in most houses is just fine for this plant.  Place your pot with the ginger in it near, but not in, direct sunlight. Green shoots will come up out of the soil and the roots will spread out.

It will take about 4 months for your ginger to grow before you can use it. You will then be able begin using pieces of the ginger root when you need it for a recipe. Just cut off the amount you need and be sure to cover the root back up once you’re done.

Check out How to Grow Food From Scraps! at https://diyprojects.com/growing-food-from-scraps/
Image via Pixabay

Pineapple

Regrowing a pineapple from it’s top requires a little more patience, but is well worth the effort.  Just be sure to leave a quarter inch of fruit when you cut the top off your pineapple. Take your pineapple top and scoop out the pineapple fruit from the top, leaving the rind and leaves still attached. Some fruit will still be left, which is fine. Let this dry at room temperature for a few days. Press your pineapple top into moist soil, either in a pot or in your garden.

If your pineapple plant stays indoors, remember that they like humid climates. Do not place it in direct sun or somewhere it will get overly dried out. A pineapple plant usually takes about 2 years before it starts to produce fruit, but in the interim, it makes a beautiful houseplant.

Check out How to Grow Food From Scraps! at https://diyprojects.com/growing-food-from-scraps/
Image via Pixabay

Potatoes

When potatoes start to grow eyes, many people might throw them in the trash. These eyes, while not ideal for eating, are actually the beginnings of a new plant, so rather than tossing old potatoes, grow them.

To grow baking potatoes, chop them up into a few pieces with a couple of eyes on each piece. Then plant the pieces in moist potting soil and soon they’ll begin to sprout. To grow sweet potatoes, plant the entire potato in moist potting soil.Once the potatoes sprout, you can actually take cuttings and plant those separately to produce more plants.

Grow Food From Scraps
Image via Pixabay

GarlicTo grow garlic so easy, just peel one clove.

Place cloves 4 inches apart and 2 inches deep, in their upright position (the wide root side facing down and pointed end facing up).In the spring, as warmer temperatures come, shoots will emerge through the ground.

 

Growing Garlic (U.S.)

Sideways garlic

And there you have it, now you know how to grow food from scraps on your own!

Do you grow food from scraps? We would all love to know what you have grown from scraps.

Wal-Mart.com USA, LLC

 

Published by kelleysdiy

I love creating new ideas. And now that I am happily retired, I have lots more time to create them! Whether its crafts for decorating my home, or up cycling items I find at garage sales, thrift stores, and even on the curb, and turning them into something wonderful. The creative juices flowing in my head are almost always in overdrive....so many ideas! I love sharing my new ideas with all of you! So please follow me and let me know how I'm doing! I hope I can inspire you.....and if I do....send me a pic. I would love to see your creation.

105 thoughts on “Growing Food From Scraps”

  3. Pineapple is too difficult in our climate, but others do happen to work. However, we have no shortage of seed. Potatoes and onions are the obvious candidates that are easier to grow from pups than seeds.

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      6. Palm Springs is still is a small desert resort town. They’ve always tried to keep it from growing into a big city. I just moved from there to Palm Desert. PD is a bigger city, I really like PS better!
        The weather here is great…except the summer. But as long as you have pool, and air cond. in your house and in the car, you can beat the heat!

        Liked by 2 people

      8. We have such a drought in Ca. We have been saying that for years now. Here in the Coachella Valley (Palm Desert as seen in your pic) to conserve water, people are changing out the grass for desert gardens such as succulents and Cacti. The City Palm Springs had a incentive program for homeowners. They pay the homeowners a certain amt per sq. foot they remove of grass. People were able to change out their landscaping from 0 to almost nothing.
        This is a good thing. Grass doesn’t grow naturally in the desert. If we use native planting to our landscapes we are doing our part to help the world!

        Liked by 1 person

      9. Palm Springs is one of those weird places in California that actually has quite a bit of water available. That is what the ‘springs’ do. The aquifer is not very deep. The problem is that there are so many people in the region now. I just explained to someone else that we do not have a drought. We just live in a chaparral (or desert). This is our normal climate. When more than a million people live in San Jose, they are going to use up all the water, no matter how much there is.

        Liked by 1 person

      10. Yes they do have underground wells/springs. But in Palm Springs, the water is horrible tasting…yuck. They charge 3x more for water than in Palm Desert. Ridiculous. We are always low on water, that’s Ca.

        Liked by 1 person

  4. What we throw out could feed the third world. There is enough food on this planet, it is just not correctly distributed. Living in abundance is not good as we waste too much. I do replant potatoes, but I shall try romaine lettuce and onions now too. Thanks Kelly

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  5. Such a lot of food is wasted! It’s criminal when there are people who are starving!! We should all turn the verges in front of our homes into vegie and fruit gardens – establish a thriving local grow and share culture for produce – and for the homeless to come along and eat fresh fruit and veg.

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    1. We have local veggie gardens in a lot of neighborhoods here. I love your idea of helping the homeless. My mother told me to eat everything on my plate, there are people starving who wished they had your food. I remember when young I replied “they could have my peas. hahaa…thanks for stirring up a cute memory for me!

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    1. Most of these can be started in a shallow bowl of water. When roots have formed well and you see sprouts (any of them) you can transfer them to your yard n soil. You could also put in soil in a pot. If you can get a little above ground area just for your veggies, that would be awesome. There is a soil for vegetables specially formulated for your vegetable garden at home improvement stores, etc.

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      1. Oh ok got it..Thank you for providing this information! I am in learning stage currently, Last year I planted basil and this year we are thinking of planting some veggies as well..Let’s see how it goes…

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  8. I’ve just learned this from watching YouTube videos abt container gardening. So I am in the process of starting a few herbs in my window from herbs I bought from the store I also plan to do some potatoes in bags from scraps. Before seeing the process on YouTube i never knew just how easy gardening indoors or with minimal space could be. Great info!

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      1. Bet you have a cool garden. I could spend all day in my garden out back. I think it is so fun transplanting and growing food and pretty plants. Sometimes my plants don’t do so well, I have a tendency to over water some items. I am getting better at not doing that.

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  13. Hello. Came across your blog this afternoon. What a delight as I didn’t know that about green onions and they are mostly what I grow. Its still snowy and cold up here, but look forward to gardening. Look forward to reading more of your posts.

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    1. Thank you so much! What is nice is if you have a window in the kitchen, you can start there with your green onions. Takes up just a tiny space. I just planted some garlic last Saturday, in 5 days it has a shoot coming up about 7″ now….that’s fast!

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      2. I never knew garlic was soft and so juicy until I started growing my own. That is what really started me on growing my own herbs. Thank you honey, have a great day!

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  20. Hi Kelly I recently started doing this because my husband was complaining about the price of fresh produce. I currently have green onions, leek, Chinese cabbage and sweet potato. Celery is next! 🙂

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      2. Oh Wow!!! A garlic farm! I too have been growing mine for years. There is just no comparison to home grown. Plumper and juicier. I never knew there was such a big difference in flavor. That’s when I decided to try growing my own herbs. Everything just taste better homegrown. How far away can people smell the aroma of your garlic?

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      3. In the whole scheme of things we grow garlic on a very small scale (less than 10,000) but we do supply 4 of our local retailers. During the growing season there really isn’t a smell. During harvest we can smell it but not really strong. When it is curing the smell fills the barn but seems to be contained. If we had exhaust fans in the barn it may spread throughout the neighborhood.
        I absolutely agree – homegrown tastes sooo much better. 🙂

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  21. This was a great post! I love the process of cultivating and growing my own food and having complete control over its quality. Yay for horticulture! I’ll actually be doing a piece soon on my journey growing a pineapple…it’s been 2 years and the fruit is now growing! Follow us back at science-lion.com and check out that piece when we post it, along with our other offerings!

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  23. I can’t grow anything except cat grass inside the apartment because your little friend eats anything that’s green and growing! And, as you know, we don’t have the “outside.”
    My grandmother used to grow green onions from onions all winter, and in the summer we grew garlic.

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      6. We’re talking about our grandchildren now….right?? or the kittiehttps://kelleysdiycom.wordpress.com/wp-admin/tools.php?page=delete-blogs? My son takes her to his gym once in a while to ‘work out’.

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  24. I have done green onions before, and actually have some in my kitchen right now. 🙂 Also, trying the lettuce thing. 🙂 I want to do garlic, and most definitely a few others.

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  25. I have a book I was about to start reading this week, and the stuff you mentioned sounded familiar. The book is “No-Waste Kitchen Gardening: Regrow your leftover greens, stalks, seeds, and more” by Katie Elzer-Peters. I thumbed through it a little last week and yeah, there’s a bunch of what you said in it. I wondered how many other people tried this. Nice to know it’s worth a try.

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  27. I’m growing potatoes this year from some that got a little gnarly in my pantry. They were little red potatoes. I planted the whole thing in pots outside and they are coming up quickly!

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