Foods You Can Regrow From Scraps

Humans waste so much food.

Before throwing away the stub of your celery or the top of that carrot, learn how to regrow foods from the scraps left behind and become more self-sufficient.

Self-sufficiency is essential. While we can’t all be off-grid farmers, many vegetables can be regrown from leftover table scraps.

Using scraps to regrow food can help you save money on pricey vegetables and aid in future preparation.

Potatoes

You can regrow potatoes by cutting an old potato into small pieces. Ensure that each piece has one eye.

Let the pieces dry for a few days, and plant them in soil; water regularly to ensure the soil stays moist.

Sweet Potatoes

Cut a sweet potato in half and suspend it in a glass of water with toothpicks. The bottom half of the sweet potato should be in the water, while the top half should be exposed to air.

After a few weeks, roots should start growing from the sweet potato’s bottom half.

Related: How To Can Potatoes for Long Term Preservation

Once the roots are a few inches long, you can plant the sweet potato in soil.

Green Onions

Cut the roots off a green onion, leaving about an inch of the white part intact, and place them in a jar or glass with water covering the roots.

Change the water every couple of days, and within a week or two, you should see new shoots starting to grow.

White or Yellow Onions

Cut the bottom off an onion and place it in soil with the cut side down.

Within a few days, you should see new shoots starting to grow.

As the shoots grow taller, you can harvest the green onion tops and use them in recipes.

Garlic

Take a clove of garlic and plant it in a pot or in your garden with the pointed end facing up. Within a few weeks, you should see a new garlic plant starting to grow.

Shallots

Separate a shallot from the clove. Place the cloves in a container, pointed end upwards, cover with soil, and care for as you would any other plant.

Leeks

Grown in the same way you re-grow green onions, cut a leek a few inches from the base and place them in a bowl of water until they start growing roots, then plant them in soil.

Related: 10 Vegetables That You Can Stockpile Without Refrigeration For A Full Year

Beets

Cut off the top of a beet and place it in a shallow dish of water, cut side down. Within a few days, you should start to see new green shoots emerging from the top of the beet.

Once the shoots are a few inches tall, you can plant the beet in soil and continue to grow it.

Lemon

Save the seeds from a lemon and plant them in soil. The lemon tree may take a while to grow and produce fruit, but it is possible.

Avocado

Take the pit from an avocado and clean it off. Then, using toothpicks or a flipped bottle top, suspend the pit in a glass of water with the pointed end up. Keep the water level consistent, and within a few weeks, roots should start to grow. Once the roots are about an inch long, you can plant the avocado pit in soil.

Carrots

Cut the top off the carrot, leaving a bit of the green leaves intact, and place it in a shallow dish of water. Change the water every couple of days, and within a week or two you should see new green leaves starting to grow.

Turnips

Cut off the top of the turnip and place it in a dish of water cut side down. Place the dish in a sunny place and change the water every few days. Once you see emerging shoots that are a few inches long, plant the turnip in soil and water regularly.

Celery

Cut the base of the celery, leaving a couple of inches of stalk intact, and place it in a bowl with about an inch of water.

Change the water every couple of days, and within a week or two, you should see new leaves starting to sprout.

Related: Edible Plants To Forage In Early Spring

Tomatoes

Take a slice of tomato, bury it in soil, cut side down. You should see new tomato plants growing from the buried slice within a few days.

Peppers

Growing peppers is as easy as saving the seeds and planting them in soil. Within a few weeks, you should see new pepper plants starting to grow.

Pineapple

Cut the top off a pineapple and remove the bottom few leaves. Let it dry for a few days, then plant it in soil. Pineapple plants take a long time to grow, but with patience, you can grow your own pineapple at home.

Lettuce and Other Leafy Greens

Cut the base of the lettuce, leaving a few inches of stem intact, and place it in a bowl with about an inch of water.

Change the water every couple of days.

You should see new leaves starting to sprout within a week.

Cabbage

Cut off the bottom of the cabbage, leaving a few inches of stem. Place this scrap into a bowl of water, cut side down, changing the water every few days.

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You should see new leaves starting to form after a few days. Once these leaves are a few inches long, plant the cabbage in a pot or the ground.

Basil

Cut a few basil stems and place them in a glass of water. Change the water every couple of days and within a week or two, roots should start to grow. Once the roots are about an inch long, you can transplant the basil into a pot.

Mint

Cut a few stems of mint and place them in a glass of water. Change the water every couple of days, and the roots should start growing within a week or two.

Once the roots are about an inch long, you can transplant the mint into a pot.

Thyme

Cut a few stems off a bunch of thyme and place them in a glass of water. Change the water every couple of days, and the roots should start growing within a week or two. Once the roots are about an inch long, you can transplant the thyme into a pot.

Rosemary

Cut a few stems of rosemary and place them in a glass of water. Change the water every couple of days and within a week or two, roots should start to grow. Once the roots are about an inch long, you can transplant the rosemary into a pot.

Sage

Cut a few stems of sage and place them in a glass of water. Change the water every couple of days, and within a week or two, the roots should start to grow. Once the roots are about an inch long, you can transplant the sage into a pot.

This is not an exhaustive list.

Many foods can be re-grown from scraps and stems, or by using their seeds. For example, foods like tomatoes or apples can be re-grown from their seeds. While using seeds takes much longer, it can be done.

With patience and a green thumb, you can grow your own foods and save a ton of money at the grocery store, which is handy every day but is especially useful during a crisis.

Stop spending all your money on things you can grow, and start preparing for the future.

What other plants can you grow from scraps? Which ones do you grow at home?

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