Have you ever thought that you can regrow your kitchen scraps and generate a new food? And the most interesting thing is that you only need the part of the food that you always discard, a container with water and sunlight.
Which vegetables can you regrow?
Options are infinite!
Leek
Leek is one of the fastest and easiest vegetables to regrow. When using leeks in your recipes, keep the last 5cm of the stem, including the roots, and place in a jar or glass with about 1 to 2cm of water (until the beginning of the stem is covered). Place the container in a sunny place, replace the water every 2 or 3 days and watch the growth! In two to three weeks, you should start to see new roots growing from the base and the stem growing. Simply cut back as needed in the recipes and the plant will continue to grow.
Carrot, turnip and beetroot
Root vegetables such as carrots, turnips and beetroots have double purpose in the kitchen, as you can eat both the vegetable itself and the green leaves. Leaf growth (a great addition to salads or sauces) is simple: keep 1 or 2cm of the vegetable next to the leaves, place in a shallow bowl of water in a sunny window and in a week you will have fresh leaves. If you want to grow the vegetable itself, wait until the cut takes more roots and then transplant it to the land. Watering almost daily, the root should be ready for harvest in about a month.
Potatoes
With a little patience, you can grow new potatoes with the remains of just one tuber. Select two pieces of potato with eyes on each side (the holes where the roots appear) to grow again. Leave the potato halves at room temperature until they are completely dry. Then plant the pieces a few centimeters deep (eyes up) in pots with soil and add a few centimeters of water. Potatoes need about 2.5 to 5 centimeters of water per week during the growing process. In about a month, you can start harvesting the potatoes by feeling the soil and pulling the potatoes out whenever you want.
Avocados
Save the avocado pits and grow your own avocado tree! (Yes, it’s true!). Clean the pit, place four toothpicks forming an X and balance the pit over a glass cup filled with water. Place in direct sunlight and change the water every two days. Within a few weeks, the seed will open and roots will begin to grow. As soon as the plant is born through the rip and gain a few centimeters, you can already put it in the soil. Still, we are talking about growing a future tree, so be patient, as it will take a few years to have a tree capable of growing avocados (as in the image below).
Basil and Coriander
Take a long stem, at least 10cm long (if it is shorter, the plant may not have enough energy to grow again), and remove the leaves from the bottom, leaving some at the top. Place the stem in a glass with some water (be careful not to submerge the leaves) and place it in a sunny place, changing the water every 2 or 3 days until the roots start to grow. As soon as there are roots, plant in a pot with soil and watch how it turns into a shrub of basil and coriander.
Ginger
As a root vegetable, ginger grows underground. To regrow ginger, start by dipping a piece of ginger in a glass of water overnight. The next day, plant it in a pot, buried about 5cm from the top, place it in a place where it can receive indirect sunlight and water it well. The ginger grows slowly, so it may take a few weeks for the sprouts to come out of the pot, so continue to water lightly. After a few months, the ginger will be ready for harvest. You can harvest the ginger by pulling the plant and cutting the growing roots. Replant a piece to keep the ginger harvest year-round.
There are many other vegetables that can be regrown, here we present only some of them.
Did you like this article on Regrow: the technique that gives new life to your food?
Don’t miss any news and subscribe to our Newsletter. We hope you find the inspiration you are looking for!
In addition to the article you just read, we suggest this other article about healthy recipes to cook at home, perfect for this autumn season.
Follow us on social media: Instagram, Pinterest e no Facebook.
Português