Did you know you can grow indoor garden plants from discarded vegetable scraps?
It's getting cold for those of us in northern climates and we're putting our gardens to bed for the year. That doesn't mean we can't keep growing our own food inside though -- and we can even do it for free in many cases.
Here's a round-up of wonderful culinary plants to grow inside over the winter from kitchen trimmings. Follow the links to get complete details and pictures.
(*Note: Examiner sometimes hyperlinks common words. My links are preceded by an *asterisk to take you to recommended pages.)
*Scallions: Simply put your green onions in a glass of water and trim the tops as they grow for an ongoing supply. Be sure to rinse the roots and change the water every few days.
*Celery: Plant the base in a pot and grow a new bunch of celery either indoors or out.
*Garlic scapes: Plant cloves of garlic to get the most delicious garlic scapes. Trim off the green stems as they grow and use them as you would scallions. You'll eventually get more garlic cloves to harvest, too.
*Romaine lettuce: Plant the stump to grow a second harvest.
*Onions: You can grow full-sized onions, too, provided you use a large pot and provide plenty of sunlight. Harvest green onions every few weeks or be patient and harvest onions later in the year.
*Basil: You can root basil cuttings from the garden or the grocery store in water and then repot them once they have roots to harvest all winter.
Experiment with rooting other herbs in a sunny window too. Also look into sprouting seeds for ongoing edibles inside.
For more ideas, check out the book *Don't Throw It, Grow It!: 68 windowsill plants from kitchen scraps.
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