You know I’m a fan of green living. I’ve told you lots of times how easy it is to do: how to make your own cleaning products, how to start composting, easy ways to go green, and lots of other things. Why? Because I believe it is SO easy that we don’t have any reason NOT to do it! Another thing you know about me is that I love gardening. Flowers, trees, fruits and veggies, we’ve got it all in our backyard. And I recently just found out that certain veggies will regrow if you plant them again. It’s easy and fun! Here are a few things regrowing in my garden right now
Celery
Yep, you can regrow celery that you buy at the store. Not the precut stuff, the real thing. Buy celery stalks with the root on the bottom cut off. Cut the celery about an inch up from the bottom. Go ahead and use the celery on top.
Take that bottom portion and put it in a shallow bowl of warm water. Next, leave it in a window or outside and let Mother Nature do the work.
In just a few days you will start to see new leaves growing on the top and roots growing out of the bottom! Now your celery is ready to be planted in your garden or a pot. Plant the whole thing in the soil. The leaves should be above the soil.
In several weeks, the celery will look like it did when you bought it at the store. Cut off a couple of stalks at a time or pull the whole thing out and use it. Then start the process all over again!
Garlic
You know when you buy a bulb of garlic and don’t use it quick enough and some of the cloves start to sprout? Guess what? You can plant that! And that one little clove could produce 10+ more cloves of garlic for you! Another secret? The cloves don’t have to even be sprouted to do it.
If you have a clove that is not sprouted, just pop it into some gardening or potting soil pointy side up. If it’s already sprouted, plant it sprouted side up. Plant in a sunny location, and make sure the soil doesn’t get too wet. Plant cloves 4-5 inches apart or “hide“ them (which is what I do) in with other plants and flowers.
Now it’s time to wait for it to grow. When it starts to grow, it will sprout leaves. You will know your garlic is ready to be used when those leaves turn brown and die.
After you’ve pulled it out of the ground, you have to let it dry out. Hang the bulbs in a cool, dry location for about a week. Then it will be ready to use! Or use half of it and replant the other half – you will never have to buy garlic again! Green Onions We use a lot of green onions a lot of them. And so I just replant them when I’m done with the stalks. It’s easy! After cutting the green onions, save the bottom one inch of the bulb (the white part). Make sure you leave the little roots intact. Then just take the saved green onion bulb, and replant in the garden or container. Make a small hole with your fingers or hand shovel – just deep enough to hold the bulb. Put the onion in with the root end down. About 1/4 – 1/2 of an inch stick out above the soil line. In as little as two weeks, you can either pull the small onions out or just cut off the green tops to use as you regularly would. Keep doing this and you’ll have homegrown green onions for a few months.
Nowhere to plant outside? You can also place the green onion bulbs in a small glass of water and leave it near a window. The green tops will regrow and you can use as needed. Now you’ll never have to buy green onions again either!
Recently, I bought green onions at the store that I forgot about and didn’t use. When I found them in the fridge, I took them outside to plant and forgot about them. After sitting on top of the soil for a week or so, I realized that they were re-rooting themselves into the dirt!
So there you have it! Easy ways to go green, save money and garden all at the same time. I’m so impressed by how many things that regrow in a garden that I’ll continue to share them with you as I find them!
Psst! My friend Katie (author of Sluiter Nation) wrote a great article recently about Living Green over at Borderless News and Views head over and check it out!