10 Foods You Can Grow From Scraps

Food That Regrows Itself

Grow food from kitchen scraps. It’ll help you save money & gives you the awesome feeling of eating something you grew yourself! 

1. Green onions, lemongrass, leeks, fennel, & spring onions – you can grow these from their discarded roots, so don’t throw away your roots! Save about 1” of your bottoms Place in a juice cup, or jar with some water just enough to cover the roots – do not fully submerge. Place in a window. Change water every day. You can harvest in about 3-5 days.

2. Garlic: Larger cloves can be planted into the ground or pot. The larger the clove, the larger resulting bulb. Place the budding clove or whole bulb into soil about two inches deep and 8 inches apart. Water the plants often. Careful not to overwater during cold months, this can cause the garlic to rot. As the green shoots grow, you can harvest those and them, they taste great on potatoes and salads to name a few. Once the shoots start to dry and the leaves turn yellow, you can harvest.

3. Romaine lettuce & Bok Choy: Place the stem from the head of the lettuce in a bowl that’s filled with about ½ inch water and put it in a windowsill that gets a lot of sunlight. You should start to see new leaves in about 2 weeks, and they should be full grown in about 3-4 weeks. Same applies for Bok Choy, only in a week or two, you’ll want to transplant to a pot with soil to grow a new head.

4. Carrots: Place the tops of carrots in water in a shallow water container like a tupperware or shallow dish cut side down. Make sure half the carrot top is submerged. Set dish in a well-lit windowsill and you’ll have carrot tops that go great in salads or for garnish. Add water to the saucer or container as needed to keep the tops from drying out.

5. Ginger: Soak a chunk of ginger overnight. Submerge in moist soil. Keep watering until shoots appear. Ginger will be ready to harvest within 8-12 months. Remove the plant, use what you need, and repeat. Keep in mind that ginger loves the warmth of the sun!

6. Cilantro & Basil: Submerge stem or stalks into water. Leave in a bright, but not too hot place until roots start to form on the stem. Make sure you change the water every couple of days. Once roots start growing, place stems into pots at least 4 inches wide. Water and place in sunlight.  

7. Mushrooms: Plant mushroom stalks in soil with some compost or used coffee ground and keep them in a moist environment. Keep the head of the stalk exposed to the air. It is preferred to keep them in an area where it will be cool at night. Within a few days, stems will start to sprout new heads.

8. Onions: Cut off the onion bottom (the area with the roots) and allow to dry for a few hours up to a couple days. Plant root down and cover with an inch or two of soil and water as needed. You can harvest it early and get fresh green onions or wait until the bulb is fully developed.

9. Potatoes & Sweet Potatoes: Cut potato into two pieces, each having 1-2 “eyes” on it. Set pieces out at room temp for a few days or until fully dry. Plant about 8” in depth in a 4” hole about 12 inches apart. Add more soil until it grows about 6” tall. You need a good area to grow these in, a lot of space is needed. OR you can grow them in a big round container that has enough space to plant with the above increments.

 10.   Pineapple: Don’t throw out the top of your pineapple! Remove all fruit until you see root buds. Place in water for two weeks to form roots. Growth happens between the first few months but won’t be until 2-3 years before harvest.

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