Are you making the most out of your food shopping? With us all taking fewer trips to the supermarket it can be challenging to keep well stocked on your veggies. But did you know that you can grow your own vegetables and make your very own vegetable patch purely from the scraps that you would usually throw away! Not only does this save you money, it allows you make some home grown produce and sparks a new hobby. We’ve included a list of which scraps you can use to grow your own vegetables below and how to nurture them to make the best produce!
1. Celery
Celery can be regrown from the root of the vegetable easily at home. Ensure that you keep 1 – 2 inches of the celery base as this is the part that it grows from. To grow your own celery, you place the base, cut side up, into a shallow bowl or saucer of water and ensure that it gets plenty of sunlight; a windowsill should be fine for this. Ensure that you refresh the water regularly and you will soon see roots appearing underneath the base, and leaves growing at the top. Once the roots are more established you can plant your celery in soil, with the top of the base slightly showing above the soil.
(Tip: leeks, fennel, and spring onions can also be grown in the same way!)
2. Potatoes
Did you know that you can use potato peelings to grow your own potatoes! If you have a potato that is beginning to sprout, save the piece of potato peeling that is sprouting and dry it out (overnight is usually enough time). Then you can simply plant the piece of peeling in soil, ensuring that the sprouting part is facing upwards as that is the part that grows. After a couple of weeks’ you should see the potato begin to sprout through the soil.
3. Lettuce
Lettuce can be regrown from scraps in a similar way to celery. Ensure that you keep 1 – 2 inches of the base of the lettuce put the base cut side up in a shallow bowl or saucer of water (ensure that it gets plenty of sunlight). You should change the water if it begins to get cloudy.
A lettuce will survive on your windowsill if you do not have a garden to plant it in, but you can also plant the lettuce in soil for faster growth. When fully grown, ensure to use the lettuce leaves starting outwards, to encourage better regrowth.
4. Onions
An onion can be re-grown from the root. If you want to grow your own onions, ensure that your root scrap has at least half an inch of onion attached. You can then simply plant this into a pot of damp soil and leave in plenty of sunlight. As long as you remember to water your onions, you should see the shoots begin to appear from the soil after a couple of weeks!
5. Peppers
The seeds inside peppers can be used just like any other plant seed would be planted. With the nice weather we have been experiencing you are able to plant the seeds straight into the ground; but they can also be planted in pots of damp soil if it’s too cold outside. Ensure that you plant the seeds in a spot that gets lots of sunlight and remember to water them. These will not require too much attention and usually grow quite quickly. Once they have grown, remember to save some of the new seeds to regrow your crop.
6. Herbs
Herbs such as coriander, parsley, and basil can be regrown from the stems of the herbs; so your meals can always be flavoursome! To regrow these, ensure that you have around 2 inches of stem (with a couple of leaves on top) and place this into a small cup of water for a around a week. Once you begin to see small roots sprouting you can plant them into a pot of soil ensuring that they get plenty of sunlight. You must be careful not to over water your herbs once planted in pots to encourage better growth. Once your herbs have regrown, try and ensure that there are always herb leaves left on the plant so that you so not have to start your growing process from the beginning again.