Believe it or now, you can actually grow quite a few vegetables from the scraps you normally throw away. This means instead of raising these vegetables from seeds you can start them off much farther ahead in the process and as a result, get better luck out of each planting.
The vegetables in this list do so well with regrowing from scraps that it’s possible you’ll never need to buy them again. When you have limited space and resources, especially in a post-SHTF scenario, being able to keep fresh vegetables on the table is a very big deal, so here are 7 vegetables that you can actually regrow from scraps.
Note: This will most often only work with organic vegetables, as many non-organic veggies have growth inhibitors sprayed on them to stop them from rooting in the store or package, and to keep them fresh longer.
1. Garlic
Garlic is one of the easiest scraps to plant, and being one of the most common spices, makes for a great place to start.
All you have to do is plant a single clove with the root end facing down. Make sure it’s planted shallow, in a sunny part of your garden. Before you know it you’ll have your very own garlic growing.
You can also wait until a garlic clove starts to sprout, place it in a jar with enough water to cover it, and wait until you see roots growing to give them a great head start.
2. Onions
You know the bottom of an onion that you normally cut off and throw away when cutting up an onion? Save your next one and grow your own onions. Cut off the bottom with about 1.5-2” of onion above the bottom root ball and allow it to dry for a day or so in the shade before planting.
Plant the clipping root-side down with about 2” of soil covering it. The clipping will start to root in a few days and you should see a plant forming shortly thereafter.
3. Celery
When you’re cutting up celery you usually toss the bottom root end of the stalks, but instead of heading to the garbage or compost pile, place it in a shallow bowl of water and within a few days you’ll see roots and new leaves start to show up.
As soon as you see these starting to show, plant the celery so the leaves are just above the soil.
4. Ginger
Fresh ginger usually comes in odd sizes, which means just about everyone has a piece of it in their fridge right now that’s not being used. Instead of letting it go bad, you can plant that spare piece in some potting soil and before too long, you’ll have your very own ginger plant growing.
Once the plant grows to a decent size, just uproot it, cut a piece of the root off to use, and replant the remainder again. Ginger is small enough that you can actually even use it as a houseplant.
5. Potatoes
Anyone who’s left a bag of potatoes in his or her basement long enough knows that they love to sprout and try to grow all by themselves. Instead of wasting an entire potato by burying it to grow a new plant (which you can do), find one with a large “eye” on it and cut the eye out with about a 2-inch square around it from the potato.
Allow the cutting to sit in the sun for a few days to dry out to keep it from getting moldy in the ground. Plant the cutting about 8-inches deep with the eye facing up and you have a new potato plant!
6. Leeks
Leeks are a great spicy plant used in soups and are pretty easy to regrow from the root ends that you normally pitch. Take the root base with about 1-inch of leek above it and place the cutting into a jar with enough water to cover it.
Leave the jar in the sun and after a few days you should see the roots growing and a sprout coming out of the top. Within about a week you should have enough leek to use again and start the process all over again.
7. Fennel
Fennel is a very strong tasting vegetable, with most people using the fronds from the plant to season dishes. More often than not you have to purchase the bulb with the fronds and pitch or compost the bulb when you’re done.
Instead of this, place the bulb in a jar and cover it with water so the bulb is completely covered. Place the jar in the sun and after a few days you should see fresh fronds starting to show. Replace the water every few days and you don’t even need to replant it.
Wrap-Up
Being in survival mode doesn’t mean you have to eat MREs for the rest of your life. Learning how to take scraps from your cooking and using them to become self-reliant is one of the best skills to add to your emergency food plan, and a great way to make sure you keep a balanced diet, even after the SHTF.
