Welcome to homestead life, mamas. We’re just a few days in on our full quarantine, and I feel like I’m going to need to learn how to grow wheat and weave my own fabric soon. (Kidding! No panicking!) But I do have to admit, when I saw Ruby Amanfu’s tip about replanting scallion discards in shot glasses instead of tossing them into the compost bin, it felt pretty empowering.
Come on, we can do this. Right?
(BTW, does this work on coffee creamer too? Because: send help.)
After seeing this clever trick, I thought I’d check to see what else I should be saving so that I can regrow veggies and produce of my own. So, . here are 5 veggies you can regrow quickly in your kitchen. It will help you do your part to stretch out those trips to the grocery and #FlattenTheCurve by staying home, right along with stretching out your budget.
Plus, it’s a science lesson too! So you can check that off your homeschool to-do list.
At top: Lettuce at Don’t Waste the Crumbs; Celery by Milada Vigerova
Related: Quarantine pantry prep tips…from an ex-Mormon who’s trained her whole life for this.
Regrowing scallions
Ruby’s advice on her Instagram feed, @rubyamanfu, is so simple and brilliant: simply replant the roots of your scallions and they’ll grow back…quickly! Make sure you click through to her post to get all her ideas on ways to use them once they’re grown again.
Regrowing romaine lettuce
I’ve actually had a lot of success using these tips from Don’t Waste the Crumbs to regrow romaine lettuce from scraps. Just set the cut stem in a shallow bowl of water and place it in a windowsill with sunlight. You’ll be shocked at how quickly you’ll have sweet, tender lettuce leaves. Definitely visit her site for tons of smart tips for growing other veggies too.
Photo: Skyla Design via Unsplash
Regrowing herbs
Okay, so they’re not exactly vegetables. But fresh herbs can be regrown at home too. If you don’t have an Aerogarden, you can still do it easily using your existing herbs. Simply cut basil, mint or cilantro or any other herb, making sure you leave 2-3 inches of stem on the sprig. Place it in a glass of water until roots begin to form, then transfer to potting soil and let it bloom.
Photo: Milada Vigerova via Unsplash
Regrowing celery
As with lettuce, you can leave the stem of a stalk of celery intact and place the entire thing in a shallow bowl of water or even a wide coffee mug. According to spud.ca, your stalk will need lots of sunlight to grow, but you should see new leaves appearing quickly. Once they do, give the stalks a week to thicken before you transfer to soil. Visit the site for more ideas, including how to re-grow pineapple. Doesn’t that sound good right now?
Photo: Tijana Drndarski via Unsplash
Regrowing garlic
Garlic grows really easily, and can be used in so many different recipes that it makes sense to try growing it at home. In fact, If you’ve ever let garlic sit too long in the fridge, you’ve already seen the new shoots growing! Net time you have a fresh bulb, just pull several cloves off and plant them in the soil, root end down. Give it lots of sunlight and you’ll have fresh garlic growing right at home before you know it.
