How To: Grow Fresh Produce from Your Leftover Groceries

Potatoes are a cinch to regrow! In fact, you may already have a few in your pantry that are starting to sprout. Just cut the potato into about two-inch chunks, each containing at least one eye. Let the pieces dry out overnight so they won’t rot once they’ve been planted. Then, bury them about eight inches deep in very rich soil or compost in the early spring. When the sprouts pop up above the surface, add another four inches of soil—and expect a crop of potatoes by midsummer.

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Basil is easy to propagate from cuttings. Just use kitchen scissors or a sharp knife to clip a two- to three-inch sprig just below a leaf node (where new leaves are starting to grow). Pull off any larger leaves next to these new ones, and submerge the node in a jar of water. Place the jar in a sunny windowsill and change the water every other day. Within a week, you’ll see roots emerge. Once those roots have grown about two inches, the herb is ready to plant outside or in a pot.

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If you’ve got a particularly juicy and wonderful tomato, save a few of the seeds to grow new plants next year. Simply squeeze some pulp onto a paper towel, and let the seeds dry out for a week. Then, store the seeds in an envelope until January, when you'll plant them in light potting soil and keep them moist in a sunny window. By spring, they’ll be ready to move out to the garden, and you’ll have tomatoes all summer long.

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Green onions are another vegetable easily regenerated—all you need is water. Just place the bottom part, with the roots, into a jar of water and move it to a sunny spot. Change the water every couple of days. The shoots will start to emerge again. Cut off what you need for recipes, and continue to let the rest grow.

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You can’t grow a turnip from scraps, but you can grow turnip greens to enjoy in salads! In fact, this same method works for carrot tops and beet greens too. Make sure you buy root vegetables that still have the greens attached. Then, cut them about two inches from the top and place the tops in water, cut side down. Keep them in the sun and make sure you keep the water level consistent. Harvest greens as you need them.

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If you’ve got some extra lentils (or other beans) at the bottom of the bag, use them to grow bean sprouts. Put them in a glass jar and fill with water to soak overnight. Then, pour off the water and drain the beans. Sit the jar in a sunny window, and rinse the beans every day. In a week or less, you’ll have homegrown sprouts to harvest for salads, sandwiches, and other dishes.

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Fresh gingerroot can be regrown and continually used right in your kitchen. Leave your root on a windowsill until one of its eyes sprouts, then bury it (sprout side up) about three inches deep in a pot of rich soil. Move the container to a sunny spot, and it will start to grow as a lovely houseplant. You can dig it up and harvest ginger from it as needed—just replant it again so it can continue to grow.

Celery can be regrown from the bottom end that you typically cut off and throw away. Just put the celery bottom in a dish filled with an inch or two of water, and place it in a sunny windowsill. Once roots sprout at the bottom, you’ll see new leafy stalks growing up from the center. Transfer the plant to soil, either in the ground or in a pot, and continue to water it regularly. It will take several months to grow as big as a celery bunch you'd see at the grocery store, but you can cut stalks as they grow for use in salads and as garnishes.

Related: 10 Easy-to-Grow Vegetables for Beginning Gardeners

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