Regrowing Grocery Store Vegetables

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    As I prepare to put in my Spring garden and to take part in a gardening workshop, this post has been coming into play! Thought I would repost it as a reminder to you all that you can regrow so many of those veggies that you have already spent money on! This is a real budget saver! 

    One thing that I have been fascinated about lately, is regrowing my store purchased vegetables!  It is so awesome to know that I can really get my money's worth out of the fresh vegetables that I purchase.  When the stores had shelves that were much more bare than we are used to, It appealed to me to grow edible house plants that I could just clip leaves from and add to recipes whenever I wanted to.  What a great way to add some freshness to your diet.  Here are some of the items I've been growing and how I've been doing it. 

Green Onions-One of the easiest things to regrow! 

     Green onions are a vegetable that you can practically watch grow. when you cut off the white part of the stalk that includes the rood end and place them in water.  I use small jelly jars.  In the photo above you can see the ones on the right that I just started, the ones in the middle that I have snipped a time or two and the ones on the right that are ready to be used.  The great thing is that I can just clip some onion and then grow them again!  They grow so well hydroponically that there is no need to ever replant them in soil, but you can if you wish. 

Isn't that pretty?

​Carrots are also super easy!

     The great thing about carrots is that the tops are edible and they are feathery and pretty.  After awhile, the roots may actually form into a new, weirdly shaped carrot, but I think the beauty of these carrots is to keep them growing inside as an edible houseplant and snip leaves as you need them.  Later in this article I'll give you some suggestions about how to add these vegetables to your recipes. 
      To regrow carrots, purchase carrots that still have their tops on them.  Generally, this will be in the organic section of the grocery store.  Remove the greens and cut off about an inch of the top of the carrot.  Place the top, cut side down in a shallow dish of water.  Watch the water levels daily.  I used filtered water from my Brita pitcher to water all of my plants.  In a few days, you will see little sprouts coming up around the ring on the carrot.  As they begin grow, you may also see little feathery roots begin to form.  As the greens begin to get to be about 3 inches tall, transplant them into a pot with a nice potting mix and continue to water them.  Don't put them out in the heat!  Carrots like cooler temperatures, so they will do better indoors. (I learned this from sad experience.)  

​Lettuce

     I often purchase produce from a local distributor.  In one of the boxes was a beautiful head of leaf lettuce.  I cut the root bottom off of the head and popped it into water.  It quickly began to grow more lettuce!  I talked to my sister Carol about it, and she told me that she regrows her lettuce all of the time!  She has found that the best results is that once you transplant it into soil, water it from the bottom.  So, use a saucer under your pot and put the water in there.  Lettuce also prefers cooler weather, so if you want to put it outside in your garden, do it in the Fall or early Spring.   Or, keep it in the house as a plant.  You can cut off leaves as you like, or cut it all of the way back and it will regrow!   

Beets-The Healthiest! 

    I've talked to you about beets before on this post.  Anita gave me another supply of them, so I decided to see if I could sprout them.  I plopped the tops of the beet root into water, much like I did the carrots.  As you can see, one of them already had sprouts on it, so I left them to see if they would still grow.  They did!  After they all started sprouting well, I trans planted them into soil.  They will eventually grow into beets, but I am mainly using the tops of these.  The red and green of the leaves make lovely houseplants and the tops are the healthiest part of the plant. 

Garlic-Many plants from one bulb! 

    You can simply take apart a garlic bulb and plant the cloves in soil, root side down, pointy side up and they will grow.  But, Anita gave me this tip.  Place the entire bulb in a jar with water in the bottom and the bottom of the bulb not touching.  In a few days, the bulb will start to fan open and the individual cloves will begin to sprout.  Next, you can take them apart and put them in soil and you have give your garlic plants a nice head start.  Mine began to sprout and I put them in soil yesterday.  
      The great thing about garlic is, you guessed it, the tops, better known as the scape, are totally edible!  You can use those nice green stalks just like you would garlic.  Not only that, garlic will flower and you may also use the flower seeds to add garlic flavor to your cooking. Just like the garlic cloves, the greens and seeds contain a natural antibiotic, manganese and iron. 

​How I've Used My Edible Plant Clippings So Far and Plan to in the Future! 

• To sneak a bit more fiber into my grandchildren's diet, I made an herbed rice.  I used green onions, carrot top and beet tops chopped very finely and they barely noticed them.  If you aren't a picky child, you can add more to your taste.  When my garlic scapes get longer, they will probably be great in here as well! 
• Adding herbs to biscuits is a savory treat.  I've already done it with onion and carrot tops.  Of course, garlic will be great! 
• All of these things will make a great addition to salad to add some interest and flavor.
• An herbed yeast bread is always good. I used onions, garlic and rosemary (which many people have growing decoratively in their yards) on my focaccia bread. 
• All of these veggies will also be delicious in homemade soup!  

More Vegetables That I am Planning to Try to Regrow in the Future

• celery
• bell peppers
• strawberries

    When I give those a try, I will totally give you an update.  
    I am so excited that aside from an outdoor garden, I will have some easy indoor alternatives!  Have you regrown any veggies from the grocery store?  Tell me you experience in the comments!