I spent way too much money at the garden center last spring before realizing half of what I needed was already in my kitchen. Joanna watched me toss a giant pile of green onion roots into the compost bin and basically lost her mind. These are the scraps we keep coming back to.
1. Green Onions
The absolute easiest win. Just save the last inch of the white root end and drop it into a narrow glass with a bit of water. They shoot up so fast you can almost watch them grow right on your windowsill. Change the water out every few days so it doesn’t get murky and gross. Honestly, you can just keep snipping the fresh green tops off for weeks on end.
2. Celery
Don’t throw away that solid base when you’re done chopping stalks for soup. Set the bottom two inches in a shallow dish of water facing up. You’ll see tiny green leaves emerge from the very center in about a week. (sounds weird, but the plants love it). Once those stringy white roots look strong enough, move the base into real dirt.
3. Romaine Lettuce
You handle this exact same way as celery by saving the solid heart you usually toss in the trash. Honestly, I’d skip this for indoor plants unless you just want a few small leaves for a sandwich. It never really regrows a full, tight head of lettuce in water. Still, watching those tiny leaves sprout on the kitchen counter is weirdly satisfying.
4. Sweet Potatoes
This is the one we reach for most. Take a sweet potato that’s starting to sprout and suspend it halfway in a jar of water using toothpicks. It shoots out leafy vines called slips that you eventually pull off and plant in the ground. If you want the full breakdown, we wrote a detailed guide on How To Grow Sweet Potatoes From One Sprout.
5. Garlic Sprouts
A single forgotten garlic clove pushed into the dirt is going to give you beautiful green shoots. Plant the cloves pointy side up and give them plenty of bright sun on your patio. You won’t get a giant new bulb this way, but the mild greens are perfect for garnishing baked potatoes. (cheaper than you’d think).
These next few are more for small spaces.
6. Lemongrass
Keep the stiff, bulb-like base from your store-bought stalks and trim the leafy tops off. Stand them in a water glass with an inch of water until white roots form. Christina tested this on her balcony last winter and they put out thick new stalks by spring. They love heat, so keep them near your sunniest south-facing window.
7. Ginger
Look for organic ginger chunks at the grocery store that have little bumpy buds on them. Plant the whole chunk shallowly in a wide, squat pot filled with loose soil. It takes a solid month to sprout above the dirt. Just forget about it and let it do its thing. (trust me on this one).
8. Potatoes
You can grow a massive haul just from old potatoes that started sprouting in your dark pantry. Cut them into thick chunks, making sure each piece has at least one bud sticking out. Let them dry completely for a whole day before burying them so they don’t rot in the wet soil. If you need a cheap way to feed them, check out our guide on How To Use Coffee Grounds To Feed Your Soil.
9. Basil
Store-bought basil stems root insanely fast in just plain tap water. Strip the bottom leaves off a four-inch stem and drop it in a short cup. John left a stem on his kitchen counter and it had two inches of roots in less than a week. Plant it in a small pot once the root system looks tangled.
10. Carrots
You can’t regrow the thick orange root you actually eat. But the chopped-off top grows a beautiful, fern-like canopy when you set it in shallow water. The feathery greens taste like a bitter, earthy parsley and make a great pesto base. Totally worth trying.
Okay, this one’s a little weird.
11. Pineapple
Twist the spiky crown right off the top of the fruit and peel away the bottom few layers of leaves to expose the hidden stem. Stick that base in water or straight into moist potting soil. It takes literal years to produce a new fruit inside a house. We just treat it like a dramatic, tropical houseplant.
12. Beets
Save the top inch of the root just like you would a carrot. Set it cut-side down in a saucer of water and watch it push out gorgeous red-veined leaves. Those tender beet greens are fantastic sautéed with a little olive oil and sea salt. (don’t knock it till you try it).
13. Mint
This stuff grows like weeds no matter what you do. Snip a tall stem from a fresh grocery store pack, strip the lower leaves, and stick it right in water. Never plant mint directly in the ground unless you want your entire yard taken over by it. Keep it trapped safely in a container.
14. Turnips
Don’t toss the tops when you’re roasting the root bits for dinner. Put the top slice in a shallow pool of water and let the greens push up naturally. They push out fresh leaves in just a few short days. You get a steady supply of peppery greens without taking up valuable garden room.
15. Bok Choy
Chop off the heavy bottom base of the bunch and set it upright in a bowl with a little water. You’ll see the tight center start pushing up fresh green leaves almost immediately. Change the water very often. Cabbage-family plants get surprisingly stinky if you let the water sit too long.
16. Leeks
Treat these guys exactly like massive green onions. Leave about two inches of the hairy root end intact and stand it in a cup of water. Best bang for your buck on this whole list. They regrow incredibly tall, and you can just snip what you need for soups.
17. Rosemary
Woody herbs are notoriously stubborn about rooting. Take a thick, sturdy piece from a fresh bundle and strip the bottom needles off before putting it in water. This is the one we struggle with most. If it works, you get a beautiful, drought-tolerant shrub for your patio.
18. Onions
When you slice the bottom off a regular cooking onion, leave a generous amount of fuzzy root attached to the base. Plant that chunk directly into a deep pot of soil, covering it with a thin layer of dirt. It pushes up long, green onion-like stalks that pack a massive flavor punch. (yes, really).
19. Fennel
Save the dense base of the bulb with the small roots mostly intact. Rest it in very shallow water on a sunny sill and wait for the feathery fronds to start growing again. It doesn’t look like much at first glance. Give it a few extra days to really bulk up.
20. Cabbage
Cut the heavy bottom core out of the head and set it in a wide bowl of fresh water. Just like romaine, it pushes new small leaves from the absolute center of the core. The fresh greens are tender and perfect for throwing directly into stir-fries. No dirt required.
Your Garden Doesn’t Need to Be Expensive
You basically have an endless supply of free plants sitting on your cutting board right now. Some of them fail, and some of them take over your whole windowsill. Pick three, try them this weekend, and see what happens.