5 Plants You Can Grow from Your Garbage!

Hi ya! Glad you could click by for a mug of coffee, a virtual treat and a little converation. How’s it going anyway? Y’know, the other night we were watching a show called “Extreme Cheapskates”. Ever seen it? 

These people really take the cake when it comes to gall...like asking neighbours if they have any leftover food, rationing toilet paper sheets, counting toilet flushes and charging the spouse’s monthly budget or asking a restaurant to heat up a can of your own soup when going out with friends. I mean, come on, eh? If you’re that desperate to save, get a second job or a better one. However...here’s a way you can save on some food...

Instead of throwing out the undesirable ends of freshly chopped organic veggies, why not put them to use! People throw away billions of dollars of food every year, so get the most for your money. Many of the veggie discards you usually throw out can actually be used to grow more crops. Here are 5 relatively easy ones that will extend your organic buck.

Onions. Green onions are extremely easy to propagate. When you chop the roots off of green onions, place them in a bowl of water with a little bit of the green shaft sticking above the surface. Set them in a warm, sunny area and continue to add water as the plants grow taller. Once the roots are big enough, gently untangle them and transplant them into a pot in your sunny kitchen or your outdoor garden. You must transplant them, as they need the nutrients from the soil to keep growing. Red and white onions can also be revitalized in a similar manner.

Celery. Stop throwing away the root bases of your celery! Freshly cut root bases can re-grow and yield an entirely new crop! Simply set the base in a glass of shallow water in the window and watch shoots reappear. Then, you can transplant it into a pot or garden and watch your “garbage” celery grow into a delicious new crop.

Sweet potatoes. Just like white potatoes, sweet potatoes spout with “eyes.” Bury the sweet potato under a thin layer of moist soil in a sunny location. Shoots take a week to appear, and once they reach about 4 inches high, you can cut them off and replant them about a foot apart. With any luck, in 4 months you’ll have homegrown, organic sweet taters! Beware, if you plant them outside, keep an eye out for slugs, who also are partial to delicious sweet potatoes.

Ginger root. Ginger is surprisingly easy to grow from leftover chunks of a knob. Place a small bit of the root in a pot of soil with the smallest buds pointing skywards. Place the pot in a moist environment with filtered sunlight and let it grow. Ginger plants are very attractive in the house. When you need a new ginger root, dig up the entire plant, harvest the root, and cut off a small bit to pot and plant again for the next time you need ginger.

Romaine lettuce. Check out this video and learn how easy it is to repurpose your romaine stubs. The heart can re-grow, and since organic lettuces are often pretty pricey, it is a great way to save cash on those delicious summer salads.

Other foods that you can salvage include white potatoes, sprouting garlic, and even pineapple. Be warned; conventional plants probably won’t regrow, so be sure to invest in high quality organic produce. Stop wasting your food and your money. Make the most of your organic veggies and have fun in the process!

We were at my brother's this week and they have a huge pot of herbs on their balcony. That is something I have been meaning to do for a long time and gosh darn it all, this year I am going to get around to it - mark my word! We love to use basil, coriander (cilantro), mint, rosemary, thyme, and tarragon in our cooking and it’s easy to grow these fragrant additions to meals. Considering the price of bottles of dried herbs and the preferred freshness from your own garden, this is one way to be a gourmet cheapskate!

See ya, eh!

Bob