Grow food in water for fresh veg at home

Did you know you can regrow food in water without soil? Gardening couldn’t get any easier. This is great news for those who buy organic vegetables, but even if you don’t, a simple way to stretch the grocery money a little bit further is to regrow food in water!

IT’S SO EASY TO REGROW FOOD IN WATER!

Source: Unsplash/DanielÖberg

Most veggies only need about 1/2 inch of water in a shallow bowl or a tall glass. Use shallow bowls for veggies such as lettuce, bok choy, cabbage, etc. Use a tall glass for long veggies such as green onions. Change the water every 2-3 days to ensure there is no slime and/or rot.

Why Regrow Food in Water?

There are plenty of good reasons to regrow food, but the most important are:

A. It’s absolutely free.

You already bought the vegetable. All it costs is a few tablespoons of water – but if you’re smart about it, you can re-use water you’ve already used elsewhere, like from boiling pasta or water that you collected while waiting for the shower to get hot. Then it wouldn’t cost you a dime!

B. It’ll trim your grocery budget.

Little ways to save you money really do add up to bigger savings, as long as you’re diligent about using them.

Now, you won’t get a huge harvest out of any of these items, but it is still food and every little bit helps. Even if it’s a few leaves of lettuce to scoop your tuna salad with, you can regrow food you didn’t have before and won’t have to buy.

C. It makes organics more affordable.

Afford organic food just got easier! If you start with organic food, you’ll regrow food that’s organic… so you’ll reap the benefits of organic greens without actually paying for them!

D. It’s easy.

Stick the plant in water and watch it grow. Really – it’s that simple!

Growing veg scraps in water has multiple other benefits:

- Food waste is a huge issue in our world right now, and regrowing vegetable cuttings is literally using food waste to create more food.

- As you are aware, for reasons of health and safety during the coronavirus outbreaks, the frequency of our trips to the shops has been greatly reduced. Growing at least some of your own fresh veg ensures you have nutrients on hand.

- It’s a great project for children: how something that last month would have been casually tossed in the trash or compost is suddenly an interesting (and tasty) nature lesson.

Source: DontWasteTheCrumbs

GENERAL GUIDELINES TO REGROW FOOD IN WATER

- You don’t need a lot of water – just enough to cover the roots. About 1/2″ of water seems to be sufficient otherwise the food can get moldy and slimy.

- Be sure to check the water every 2-3 days to ensure that A) there’s enough water, and B) no rogue lettuce pieces fall off and slime up your bowl.

- The size of container should be relative to the size of the food you’re growing. Lettuce and celery grows best in shallow bowls. Green onion and lemongrass can be in taller, skinny glasses.

- You can regrow multiples of the same plant as long as you’re not overcrowding the area.

- Using a fertiliser could help with the yield when you regrow food – especially if this is more than a fun side project.

1. Bok Choi

Source: plantinstructions.com

Cut off the bottom of the stalk and place in a small bowl of water. New growth begins from the center in 1-2 days with significant growth in less than a week!

2. Cabbage

Source: plantinstructions.com

Place the root end in a shallow bowl of water and watch it regrow from the center. Be sure to harvest on the smaller side to get the best flavor.

3. Carrot greens

Source: plantinstructions.com

While you can’t regrow an actual carrot, you can regrow the carrot tops! Place the cut-off end of a carrot in a shallow bowl of water. Harvest the greens as they grow and add to salads. Better yet, make this amazing carrot top pesto and stop spending money on store-bought!

4. Celery

Source: plantinstructions.com

Cut off the bottom 2″ of the stalk and place in a small bowl of water. New growth begins from the center in 3-4 days. It might take awhile for a full stalk of celery to grow, but you’ll get great growth in the center for flavoring dishes. If you don’t know what to do with the leaves, dehydrate them and make your own dried celery powder.

5. Fennel

Source: plantinstructions.com

Simply cut off the bottom 1″ of the base ensuring the roots are intact and place in a small bowl of water.

6. Garlic chives

Source: plantinstructions.com

Garlic chives are the green shoots that grow from a clove of garlic and can be added to dishes that traditionally call for green onion chives like salads and baked potatoes. Place a garlic clove in a small cup and add water to the bottom without submerging. Roots will grow in a few days and shoots will grow shortly after! Tip: Garlic starts to lose it pungent flavor when the shoots grow, so if you find a rogue clove in your fridge or pantry starting to shoot, place it in a cup of water to grow chives instead of throwing the clove away!

7. Spring onions

Source: plantinstructions.com

Keep the white part of the onion with any roots that are in still intact. Place in a glass with water and you’ll have a never-ending supply of fresh green onion!

8. Leeks

Source: plantinstructions.com

Cut off the bottom 2-3″ of the stalk and place in a cup of water. New growth will come from the center of the plant. Usually only the green part of the leek is used in cooking, but it can be used interchangeably with onions for a delicious, mellow flavor.

9. Lemongrass

Source: plantinstructions.com

Cut off 2-3″ from the bottom and place in a tall container with 1/2″ or so of water. New lemongrass shoots will grow from the center.

10. Lettuce

Source: plantinstructions.com

Cut off the bottom of the head of lettuce and place it in a small bowl of water. New growth begins from the center of the in as little as 3 days and you’ll have a new half-head of lettuce in about 2 weeks. I’ve heard romaine re-grows best, but I’ve had success with green leaf and red leaf lettuce too.

MORE SCRAPS TO REGROW FOOD?

There are plenty other veggies that will regrow using just a small scrap of the original food. These listed below can be started in water, but should be transplanted to soil for full growth and harvest.

- avocado

- basil

- beets

- coriander/cilantro

- ginger

- lemon balm

- mint

- mushrooms

- onions (white/yellow/red)

- parsnips

- pineapple

- potatoes

- rosemary

- sweet potatoes

- turnips

Also, you can save the seeds/pits from apples, cherries, lemons, nectarines, peaches, peppers (sweet and hot), plums, pumpkins and tomatoes to grow your own new vegetables!

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Source: DontWasteTheCrumbs All Images: PlantInstuctions

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