If you have been throwing out vegetable scraps all this while, maybe you should reconsider this decision. Want to know why? Well, this is because you can simply regrow new plants from these scraps in your kitchen garden!
Here are 12 foods you can regrow from scraps:
1. Ginger
When selecting the perfect piece of ginger root for rooting in water, you need to look for evidence of new shoots growing from the piece of fresh ginger root. They often look like little yellow nodules or bumps. Simply place that ginger in a bowl of water. Change the water every 2-3 days. It will take 2-3 weeks for your ginger shoots to develop roots and become a ginger plant with stems and leaves.
2. Potatoes
If you see that your potatoes have eyes with a small sprout/shoot arising from its skin, well, you can use that potato to grow a new potato plant.
You can leave it to dry out overnight and then plant it in the soil the next morning, with the shoot facing upwards.
3. Rosemary
Take a cutting of a stem from a rosemary plant. The cutting should be at least 6 to 8 inches long. Then, fill up a mason jar with water and immerse the ends of the stem into the water (let at least ¼ of the stem be covered in water), making sure that no leaves are touching the water. Keep this on your windowsill where you get partial sunlight.
4. Garlic
Submerge the entire bulb in the water rather than separating the cloves and submerging them individually. Pour lukewarm water into the container until the bottom of the clove or bulb is covered – usually 1⁄2-1 inch. Place the container in a sunny spot, such as a windowsill, to give it plenty of sunlight. Change the water when it turns cloudy – removing the cloves before changing the water.
5. Chives or Scallions (Green Onions)
Cut off the green portion of the chives, leaving the bulb behind (along with 4 inches of the green portion of the chive). Then submerge the bulb in water and place the jar in direct sunlight and soon your chives will begin to regrow. Harvest by cutting off the leeks or green portion of the chives each time.
6. Celery
Adding celery into your soup or into a dish your making can add immense flavor to it and therefore why not grow it in your own kitchen garden! All you need to do is place the base of the celery plant in a jar of water and within a week to 10 days you will begin to see celery springs starting to grow from its base. Place the jar in medium sunlight.
7. Cilantro/Coriander
These herbs are very popularly used in our cuisines and always come in handy to have at home. All you need to do is fill a mason jar with water (until ¼th full), then immerse 5 to 6 cilantro or coriander stalks in the water until their roots are submerged and place under partial sunlight. This plant requires a root to grow even in water and just a stem will not do.
8. Avocado
Clean the avocado seed and insert 3-4 toothpicks about halfway up the side of the pit and place it in a bowl of water. These will suspend the pit from the rim of the jar and help it stay level. When the roots have grown thick and the stem has leaves again, plant in soil in a pot about ten inches in diameter, leaving half the seed still exposed above the soil.
9. Carrots
If you have carrots that have their leaves still, then you can just cut off a little of the top of the carrot (retaining the leaves and some of the vegetable) and place it in a shallow dish with water and wait for a few weeks until it grows out and new leaves grow. Thereafter, you can plant it in the soil if you wish to do so or continue to leave it in the water.
10. Pumpkin/ Squash
Vegetables like pumpkin, squash etc., contain seeds and you can simply use these seeds to regrow these vegetables.
All you need to do is take out the seeds, dry them in the sun for a few hours and then plant them in the soil and let them grow.
11. Oregano
Oregano is another herb you can grow easily in water. Take a cutting of a couple of oregano stems and immerse them in a glass of water, making sure the leaves do not touch the water. If you live in a place with cold climate, then place it in full sunlight. If you live in a warm climactic region, place the jar in medium or partial sunlight.
12. Basil and mint
Take the stems of basil and place/submerge half the basil stem in a glass of water and keep it in an area with sufficient (not direct) sunlight for 10 to 14 days. You can change the water once in a few days to prevent the growth of algae, bacterial and the breeding of mosquitoes. After 10 to 14 days, you will see the roots starting to grow. You can then plant this in the mud, with good manure and grow it like any other plant.