I’m so excited for all the new gardeners who have decided to start growing their own food! I usually recommend finding seeds from any of these companies. Currently, many seed companies are currently shut down or are out of stock with their seeds.
More reason to try supporting your local nurseries and greenhouses if they are still open!
(Make sure to check out our post on our Call to Action: Start a Victory Garden)
If you are really in a pinch and want to start planting your garden, try looking into your fridge and pantry for options!
Dry Beans
I remember one of my favorite memories from elementary school was the science project of sprouting our own dry beans. The idea of taking something we already had on hand and watching it turn into something that could produce more food was fascinating for me. Of course it helped that my bean grew bigger and bushier than any one else’s in the class. (I dubbed myself “Plant Ninja Master” and set about sprouting anything I could get my hands on that spring.)
Now in the reality of things, you can sprout many types of dry beans you get from the store. Ideally, and organic, non-irradiated bean will be your best bet. Unfortunately, an irradiated bean will not sprout (and personally, you probably shouldn’t eat anything from it, if it did!) Irradiation is the sterilization process of exposing food to ionization radiation. This is supposed to extend shelf life and kill bacteria present on the food, without allegedly affecting the food itself. (You can form your own decisions from there. We try to avoid it as much as possible.)
When growing dry beans, you want to let the beans grow completely and dry on the plant. When you pick up a pod and shake, you should hear a rattle of the bean inside. After harvesting you will need to remove the beans from the pod, evaluate for their level of dryness, and store properly for the winter. Keep your fully dried beans stored in a cool, dark location.
Growing your own dry bean plants is a way to increase your supply over a longer period; however, you can also quickly increase the nutritional content of your beans by simply sprouting them before eating. By sprouting your beans, you make them higher in many vitamins, minerals, and protein content.
Collecting Seeds
This is another option that is best to do with an organic, heirloom produce. Many conventional varieties of produce are hybrids that are sterile whose seeds will not germinate if collected. Collecting seeds from annual fruit will allow you to harvest later that season. Various winter squashes would work well! (Butternut, spaghetti, acorn, etc.)
A perennial fruit (such as apples, avocados, pear) will take many years to grow and develop before bearing fruit. Keep in mind that seeds from apples and pears will not produce fruit true to the parent plant due to cross pollination.
When collecting these seeds, cut open and gently scoop out the seeds. Wash well and spread out on a towel to dry for several days. Keeps stored in a dark, cool place until ready for planting.
Using your food scraps
The root ends of many of your vegetables can be propagated in water or directly planted back into the soil to continue producing longer.
We have successfully grown extra green onions by placing the roots back into a pot of soil and watered well. After a few days, a new green sprout will appear and you can harvest again after about 14 days.
Celery will produce more leafy greens from the center when the end is placed in water and kept in a sunny location. I have not had success when transplanting into soil, but do enjoy adding the extra leaves into smoothies, soups, or juice.
My Mother-in-Law is currently doing something similar with the ‘discarded’ ends of Brussel sprouts and beet tops. She placed them in water and was delighted to see new green growth! These will unfortunately not produce a full rooted plant, but you can use the extra greens produced.
Herbs
Many fresh herbs propagate easily from cuttings when left in clean water and a warm environment! Give basil, mint, rosemary, oregano, and thyme a shot. Once a good root system has been established in the water, transfer to a pot and water well. You will be pleasantly surprised!
Potatoes
If you’ve ever opened a cupboard and found a bag of potatoes with little ‘eyes’ staring at you, you’ve successfully (although accidental) sprouted your own seed potatoes! Simply plant the entire potato or cut off different sections with the eyes (tubers) and plant in the ground!
These were harvested from our garden last year. I left them in a relatively warm spot and forgot about them all winter. (Bummer!) But on a brighter note, they have lots of good tubers to produce new growth this season!
Sweet Potatoes
Despite the name, these are completely unrelated to potatoes. They are actually apart of the Morning Glory family. Their sprouting is completely different than that of a potato; however, like the potato, you can create many new plants from a single vegetable.
To propagate new sweet potato ‘slips’ you simply need to submerge about 1/3 of an organic sweet potato in fresh water and wait. After a few days you will begin seeing roots reaching into the water.
Tiny slips will begin to appear all over the sweet potato after about 2 weeks. Once those slips have reached 6-8″ in height, gently remove them at the base of the stem and place in a new glass of water. These slips will each develop their own root systems and you can plant in your garden!
*Make sure to plant your sweet potatoes well after your last estimated frost date! They DO NOT tolerate cold temperature dips.*
Pineapples
You can propagate a new pinapple plant by cutting off the top of your organic pineapple (cutting about 1/2-1 inch below the base of the leaves). Removing some of the lower leaves until you find tiny root buds and propagate in water. Once roots have been established, plant in well draining soil! This option will take awhile to bear fruit, but is a fun project for your kids to join in on too! After about 3 years, you will find a new baby pineapple sprouting from the top of your plant!
I would love to hear about some of your success stories with starting plants in unconventional ways! Have you started a garden this year?
*Stay tuned tomorrow for a bonus blog with an exciting announcement!!!*