5 Vegetables You Can Grow from Scraps

Even if you don’t have space for a garden, you can still grow vegetables. Many will grow in containers inside your home as long as the air isn’t too dry. During the spring and summer, you can also grow vegetables in containers on a deck or patio. And, you don’t have to look for seeds – you can grow these veggies from scraps.

If you stagger planting in containers – plant new veggies every couple of weeks – you’ll be able to grow all the fresh vegetables you want. If you have room inside, you can grow fresh vegetables year ‘round.

Potatoes

Set a couple of potatoes aside. You can use any kind of potato, including large baking potatoes, red potatoes and smaller white potatoes. Put them in a cool dark place. As soon as the eyes start sending out shoots, they are ready to plant.

Cut the potato so two “eyes” are on each chunk. Plant the potato about 6 inches down with the eyes facing up. If you use a tall bucket, you can put 12 inches of dirt in the bottom, then 6 inches over the potato. As the plant grows, add more dirt until the pot is nearly filled. The plant will keep growing and making more potatoes. The bottom potatoes will be larger than the top, so if you like baby potatoes, you’ll have the best of both worlds.

Celery

Cut the root of a bunch of celery about 5 inches from the root. Place toothpicks around the celery about 3 inches from the root. Fill a glass with water and set the celery on the glass – the toothpicks will hold it out of the water. Make sure the water touches the bottom of the root.

As soon as the plant grows root tendrils, you can plant it and let it grow into a new bunch.

Carrots

You can grow carrots two ways. Cut the tops off, leaving about a half-inch of carrot. Some people have luck planting them directly in the dirt. If that doesn’t give you results, stick toothpicks in them and support them over a glass of water. Make sure the water just touches the bottom of the carrot. When it starts growing tendrils, plant it in potting soil.

If you don’t get new carrots from the regrowth, let the plant go to seed. You can then plant the seeds for new carrots.

Sweet Potatoes

Cut a sweet potato in half and place each half over a shallow container of water. Suspend the sweet potato above the water using toothpicks. Once the sprouts (not the roots) reach about 4 inches high, cut them off and place them in a container of water. New roots will grow from the cuttings. Plant the cuttings once they start growing roots.

Scallions, Onions, Garlic, Shallots and Leeks

This trick works for any member of the allium family. Place the base of a stem or bulb with roots attached in a dish of shallow water. New greenery will start to grow. You can harvest the new green growth, or you can plant the new plant. Garlic and onions will form new bulbs. Shallots will divide, so the harvest gets bigger every year.