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Why buy vegetables when you can grow them from scraps? This is a sustainable way to start your own garden. Many vegetables can sprout new roots or shoots under the right conditions, allowing you to regrow them from leftovers.
Before tossing your dinner scraps, consider this: those roots and leaves can help you grow more veggies at home. Here are some vegetables perfect for regrowing from scraps.
Lettuce
Lettuce scraps can sprout new leaves with water and light. When placed in water, the living stump will produce new leaves around the cut edges. Simply insert the unused root into the soil, place it near sunlight, and soon, you’ll see leaves emerging from the center. Just don’t forget to water it regularly.
Basil
Basil is a well-loved herb known for its unique smell and is a favorite for growing at home for use in fresh dishes. You can grow basil simply by placing stem cuttings in water, where they will develop roots. Once these roots appear, you can plant them in the soil. Basil thrives best in full to partial sunlight. This easy propagation method lets you start a new basil plant from just a stem.
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Mint
Mint, known for its refreshing flavor, is great in teas, drinks, salads, and dishes. Similar to basil, mint can regenerate from stem cuttings placed in water, quickly growing roots thanks to its robust growth patterns.
Garlic Sprouts
Grown for its culinary and medicinal use, garlic is an essential perennial vegetable to grow in your homestead garden. Garlic cloves are essentially dormant bulbs that, when planted, can sprout into new plants. The sprouting green shoots are edible and have a mild garlic flavor. The clove uses the energy reserves stored within to sprout, eventually producing new foliage (garlic greens), which can be harvested.
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Carrots Greens (Top)
While the carrot root does not regrow, the tops can sprout new green shoots. These shoots can be used for garnishing or as a leafy green. When placed in water, the carrot top contains dormant cells that can regenerate into green shoots.
Potatoes
Potatoes are a staple crop that comes in many varieties, including russet, red, yellow, and purple. They’re a good source of vitamins, minerals, and fiber.
Potatoes have “eyes” or buds that can sprout and grow into new plants. Each eye has the potential to become a new plant. When planted in soil, the eyes use the potato’s internal energy reserves to sprout and form new plants.
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Leeks
Leeks are wild perennial onions with broad, tender leaves and a pungent taste. They’re valued for their unique flavor, a mix of garlic and onion.
Like green onions, Leeks have a base containing the necessary cells for regeneration. Submerging the base in water reactivates these cells, encouraging new growth from the top of the cut.
Green Onions / Scallions
Green Onion is unfussy and grows well in most gardens, adding a mild onion flavor to countless dishes. The bulb of the green onion contains the necessary nutrients and energy reserves to support new growth when submerged in water.
When placed in water, the roots remain active and quickly absorb moisture and nutrients, leading to rapid regrowth from the base.
How to Regrow Scallions in Water
Onions
Onions, a staple in global cuisines, can be grown from seeds, transplants, or sets (small bulbs). Onions can sprout new growth from the base where the roots are located.
The base contains a dormant bud that can grow into a new plant. Planting the bottom part of an onion in the soil allows the dormant bud to sprout, using the leftover bulb’s energy reserves to support new growth.
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Ginger
If your climate permits, consider growing ginger. This versatile root offers a bold, sweetly spicy flavor and makes an excellent tea.
Plant a piece of ginger that has developed eyes in rich soil, keeping it in a humid spot in your house. For best results, soak the root in warm water overnight before planting in a wide, shallow pot with potting soil. Ensure the eye bud faces up. Ginger prefers light watering and indirect sunlight, with shoots appearing in a few weeks and harvest-ready in a few months.
Fennel
Fennel can regrow from the base as it retains dormant growth points ready to sprout when hydrated. Keeping the base in water stimulates these growth points, leading to new fennel shoots.
Bok Choy
Bok Choy can revive from the base, where latent buds can sprout under the right conditions. When the root end is placed in water, it absorbs moisture, encouraging the buds to sprout and grow.
Cilantro
Regrow cilantro by taking a long stem and removing leaves from the bottom, leaving a few at the top. Place the stem in water in a sunny spot until roots develop. Then, plant it in the soil and watch as it grows into a lush bush.
Celery
Similar to lettuce, celery bases have the potential to sprout new growth from the center of the base, where the plant’s growth points are located. The base of the celery contains dormant buds that, when exposed to water, awaken and begin to grow.
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