Plants To Grow From Scraps

You don't have to plant seeds to get healthy vegetables and herbs. You can regrow some plants from scraps. This is a great way to take control of your food and get more from your scraps. Here are a few of the easiest plants to grow from scraps. But there are more like green onions, basil, and celery.

Lettuce

Place the base of a head of lettuce in a bowl of water. You can use any lettuce, but romaine works best. Keep the bowl in a sunny area and change the water daily. After a few days, you'll see new roots growing. You can continue to let it grow in water or plant the lettuce base in soil. This is the best way to grow a full head of lettuce. If you leave it in water, you'll get enough new lettuce for a small sandwich or salad.

Potato

Take a small piece of potato that has eyes on it and let it set out until it's dry to the touch. It's even better if the eyes have already started to sprout because then you know the potato has not been irradiated. Foods are irradiated (exposed to ionizing radiation) to kill germs, but this can keep them from regrowing. Plant the dry potato in 8" of soil. If you are planting more than one, plant them about a foot apart. After a few months, you'll have your own potatoes to harvest.

Onion

You can take the bottom of a cut onion that probably has some dried roots still attached, and let it dry for a few days. Then plant it in soil with the roots facing down. You'll see some green sprouts after awhile. You can cut and eat the sprouts or wait for the onion to grow into a bulb under ground. If you have an onion that is already starting to sprout, you're a step ahead. Just open the onion up and take the bulb with the green sprouts and place it in a jar of water until roots form. Once there are roots, you can plant it in soil.

Ginger

You probably won't use an entire piece of ginger for your recipe because it is so strong, so regrowing it is a great option. If you leave the extra ginger alone for awhile, you will see sprouts start to form. You can cut off the piece with the sprouts and place it in water. Once roots start to grow, you can place it in soil with the roots pointing down and the sprouts facing up. You'll be able to harvest your own fresh ginger whenever you need it.

Carrot Greens

Save the carrot top and greens so that you can grow some more. Just put the carrot top with some greens still attached, in a bowl of water. The water should cover about half of the carrot top. Place the bowl in a sunny window and change the water every day. When you see the roots start to grow and some new greens, you can plant it in soil. Just make sure not to cover the shoots. You can leave some of the carrot top above the soil. Add the greens to your salad or smoothie. Or if you have enough, make a carrot greens side dish.

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