5 Foods to Regrow from Scaps
Instead of banishing your kitchen scraps to the compost (or even worse- the rubbish bin), did you know that many can be re-grown?
This is a great way to start your vegetable patch, save money and live more sustainably.
If you have children, this is a great, inexpensive way to get them involved in gardening.
Here are 5 things that I re-grow at home:
1. Sweet Potato
When an eye from a sweet potato starts to sprout, I cut off a piece of the sweet potato (around 2-3cm), place it in a small dish of water and wait for the magic to happen. A plant will shoot from the eye that you can then plant into soil. Sweet potato will take over your garden if you let it, so make sure you have a pretty large space for it. You can also eat the leaves of the sweet potato much the same way you would spinach (make sure it is sweet potato and not your normal spud- these are poisonous).
2. Spring Onion
Save 1cm of the white from spring onion that has the roots that you would normally slice off and throw away. Plant straight into some soil with some of the white left out of the soil. Keep moist and your spring onion will re-grow. I cut what I need and leave some white with the root still planted when I am cooking with spring onions.
3. Ginger
Cut a knob of ginger and place the bottom that you have cut into a small dish of water with the knob out of the water. This will sprout and you will have a ginger plant that you can then re-plant into some soil (see example pictured above).
4. Garlic
If you are lucky enough to have access to organic Australian grown garlic, you can replant some garlic cloves into some soil with the narrow end facing up close to the soil. The clove should sprout and eventually you will be rewarded with your own lovely homegrown garlic.
5. Lettuce
If I purchase a lettuce that has the roots on it, I chop off the roots with around 2cm of the bottom of the lettuce and plant it straight into soil. Keep the soil moist and it will re-grow. If I only need a small amount of lettuce, I will pick a few leaves at a time.
If you think that growing your own food at home is something that you would like to learn more about, why not study one of our courses to get you growing, such as Home Garden Expert or our Certificate in Horticulture (Organic Plant Certificate).
