Today we have Alex who is a writer, husband, father and aspiring slipstream fantasy novelist. When he isn’t writing for HomeDaddys or completing chores from his “honey- do” list, he’s most likely spending quality time with his wife and kids or working on his novel.
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Do you like the idea of eating food that’s free of pesticides or minimally processed? Maybe you’re just looking for a creative way to increase your gardens productivity. Well, did you know that re-growing food from kitchen scraps is an excellent to increase the amount of non-processed foods you eat or give your garden that extra something you’re looking for?
Mushrooms
Mushrooms are great for container gardening. Just place a mixture of compost and soil in a pot or container. Planting the mushrooms in the pot allows you to control the temperature as well as make your mushroom garden portable.
After cutting of the mushroom head, plant the stalk in your soil mixture and make sure the tops are exposed. Keep it under a warm filtered light in the daytime and in a temperature that is cool at night. If the conditions are kept right, the stalk should grow a new head.
Apples
Did you know you can grow the seeds from store bought apples? It’s not really all that difficult either. To start off, remove the apple seeds and soak them in water for 24 hours so they can soften up. Next, wrap the seeds up in a moist paper towel that’s folded into quarters. Then place the towel in a plastic bag and put in the refrigerator.
The seeds should spout after about six weeks. Put the sprouts in potted soil and water them daily. It’ll be close to a year before you can plant them outside in the ground and you’ll experience a quicker turnaround if you go out and find an apple tree at a local nursery. However, if you have kids, this is a fun way to teach them about gardening.
Onions
These are easy vegetables to propagate. Cut off the end of the onion that has the roots. Leave a half-inch of onion attached to the roots.
Plant this in a part of your garden that receives a lot of sunlight. Cover it slightly with soil and make sure you keep the soil moist. Onions grow better in warm sun. If it is cold where you live, plant the onions in pots and take them inside during colder weather.
Garlic
Garlic is able to be re-grown with just one clove.
Plant the clove with the roots facing down. Plant it in an area that is warm with direct sunlight. It will eventually start to produce new shoots. After it has grown for a while, cut back the shoots. The plant will then produce a large garlic bulb.
Potatoes
Choose a potato that has a large amount of eyes. Cut it into two-inch square pieces. Make sure that all the pieces have a minimum of one or two eyes. Let the pieces sit out in room temperature for a couple of days. This allows a callous to form over the cut after it dries. When this happens, the potato will not rot after you plant it.
New shoots will then get the maximum amount of nutrition from every piece of potato. Before you plant them, turn compost through the soil. Plant the pieces eight inches deep. Make sure the eye is facing up. Place four inches of soil over it, with the remaining four inches left empty. Add more soil as roots appear and the plant grows.
Ginger
Plant a piece of ginger rhizome in potting soil with the smallest buds facing up. Ginger grows best in sunlight that is filtered, not direct. The area it is planted in should be moist and warm.
New roots and shoots will grow very soon. When it is ready to harvest, pull the whole plant out, remove the rhizome, and plant the rhizome again to grow more ginger.
Thank you Alex! That was very informative. I have had success with the garlic (it grew but I never pulled it up so don’t know if it sprouted a real garlic) and onion (seems to be growing in my garden right now) but the potato rotted, I think ‘coz I didn’t let it dry out like Alex suggested. Got to try that next time. Have you tried growing any of these?
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