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Before You Compost, Consider Replanting! |
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| By Michael d'Estries in Green Living, How To, Organic | February 10, 2007 | ||
On a whim, I decided to subscribe to Organic Gardening Magazine (to get me through the winter months) and have been incredibly pleased with the useful articles and information contained within each issue. I’m patiently counting down the weeks till Spring in anticipation to try out all the cool little tips I’ve been learning.
Anyways, a particular article that encouraged me to start growing now, was one about replanting food scraps and creating life anew from stuff I would generally throw into the compost. After snipping away the good bits, you can regrow garlic, green onions, avocados, and even pineapples! I’m sure there are many more out there to play with, but the article touches upon these four with instructions.
For instance, once you’re done cutting up green onions, simply take the white bulb of the plant, dig up some potting soil, stick in the dirt, and get ready to harvest some new shoots in a few weeks. With pineapple, you simply lob off the top, let the crown dry for a day, and then plant in some acidic soil. Here’s an interesting fact from the article, “As a member of the Bromeliaceae family, which also includes air plants, pineapple plants take much of their nourishment not from the soil but from nutrients in the moist air.” Cool, right? In the past, I’ve never had much luck growing avocado seeds, but apparently I just needed some patience. “The pit may take over a month to germinate…” Whoops.
Anyways, check out this link and be sure to have some potting soil on hand next to that compost bin. You never know what might prefer another shot at growing! Also, leave a comment if there’s anything not listed here that might do well to become an indoor plant after its kitchen use.
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turtlebella said,
cool! Thanks for the link.
Rmutt » Blog Archive » Before You Compost, Consider Replanting! said,
[...] Anyways, a particular article that encouraged me to start growing now, was one about replanting food scraps and creating life anew from stuff I would generally throw into the compost. After snipping away the good bits, you can regrow garlic, green onions, avocados, and even pineapples! I?m sure there are many more out there to play with, but the article touches upon these four with instructions. Hit Groovy for more! » original news [...]
Beo said,
We have 2 avocados about 4′ tall and putting on about 2-4″ a month over the winter. I have found the secret to sprouting avocados in Zone 5… vermicompost! Sticking the pits in the worm bin for a month has netted 100% germination for us. Not sure if I will ever actually get fruit, but having such vigorous tropical plants grow from my garbage is good for the soul (and interior air quality!).
Sherri said,
Didn’t know about the green onions, I’m going to try that, thanks. I grew ‘decent’ garlic from the grocery store (it was mostly likely our soil, but maybe it was too hot).
We buried and extra sweet potato last year, and it really took off. The leaves were so much like fancy ground covers that I’m going to put them in the front yard where I want some nice ivy-looking ground cover (and choked out most weeds too). And now that I’ve found out about the sweet potato leaves being edible, I’ll try them in some stir-fries, soups, or beanpots.
Chris Baskind said,
Best tip of the day! I mentioned you in our Blogwatch feature over at Lighter Footstep:
http://lighterfootstep.com/blogwatch-12-february-2007.html
michael said,
So I bought some onions, avocados and a pineapple, and I’m going to put them to the regrow test this week. Obviously, the results won’t come for awhile, but I’ll update here once I have something to report!
Michelle said,
Thanks for the tip regarding the Green Onions… I didnt know where to start when thinkin about putting them in the garden, whether to plant them from seeds or what. I will attempt to plant some in the next week and see how it goes.
Michelle in Arizona