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You are here: Home / Nature / Gardening / More Plant Science: Regrowing Vegetables from Scraps

More Plant Science: Regrowing Vegetables from Scraps

April 1, 2014

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Observing how some vegetables magically regrow from scraps is a fascinating plant science project you can do at home with the kids even if you don’t have a yard! The boys and I are watching a few items regrow (or not, in one case) in our small window greenhouse.

Introduce plant science to kids by regrowing vegetables indoors!

I remember growing vegetables from scraps in my elementary school classroom 35 years ago (don’t do the math, please). Then, in my college years I toted around a small indoor avocado tree I had grown from a pit. Of all the indoor gardening activities, it is one of the most satisfying. Garbage turns into stuff you can eat! Kind of cool, if you ask me. My older son enjoyed growing root veggies in his DIY see-through planter, but I think he may be liking this even more.

Fun plant science observations project for kids. Regrow veggies.

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This is what it looks like now (including our coffee bean plant and a random succulent!). We started with celery and scallions, which should the most immediate results, and thus the best to lure kids into the magic. Cut the celery off near the base and the scallions just near the green line and sit the bottoms in water.

Later we added sweet potato and avocado. Both should be suspended in water using toothpicks.

The avocado pit is stalled, I think because the window is not warm and sunny enough yet. We’ll see. I’ll probably try a new one in a few weeks. I’ve had great success with avocado pits in the past.

Turn garbage into food with this fun indoor gardening activity for kids

The sweet potatoes are eeking along. We can see some teeny tiny roots and sprouts. Part of the fun of plant science with kids is pitting (pun) one plant against another and seeing which ones “win” the race to grow. That’s how we’re conducting our kitchen seed and bean race and it’s been part of the discussion with the boys about the veggie scraps, too.

There are lots of other veggies scraps you can grow in your window without ever touching a bag of soil. Check out these how-tos:

  • Carrot tops, parsnips, beets — any of these types of root veggies
  • Pineapple
  • Bok choy and romaine lettuce: just like celery

Have you ever regrown vegetable scraps? What is your favorite way to garden with kids? 

Check out more easy ways to garden in tight spots by following my pinterest board:
Follow Erica • What Do We Do All Day?’s board Tiny Space Gardening on Pinterest.

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by: Erica posted in: Gardening, Science 20 Comments

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Comments

  1. christene says

    April 1, 2014 at 11:56 am

    Tell me more about growing coffee beans…

    Reply
    • Erica MomandKiddo says

      April 1, 2014 at 11:59 am

      That’s just a plant my son brought home from a school field trip. I don’t actually think it will ever reach the point of producing coffee beans.

      Reply
  2. Amy @ Sunlit Pages says

    April 1, 2014 at 4:51 pm

    You can regrow an avocado?! Are you kidding me?! I can’t picture how that works, but you’ve intrigued me enough that we must try it!

    Reply
    • Erica MomandKiddo says

      April 1, 2014 at 6:39 pm

      It will grow into a tree ( a small one indoors), but it would never bear fruit.

      Reply
      • Amy @ Sunlit Pages says

        April 2, 2014 at 12:07 pm

        Oh, okay, that makes much more sense!

        Reply
        • StoneMaven says

          February 14, 2015 at 9:22 am

          You can get dwarf avocado trees that will bear fruit indoors like mayer lemons do.

          Reply
      • Marsy says

        September 28, 2016 at 7:01 am

        Yes, it will bear fruit. My grandfather replanted an avocado pit and eventually repotted it in my sister’s garden and after 8 years it began producing and bearing avocados, which we ate and enjoyed. We eat from that tree every year now and remember my grandfather, now that he’s passed on. One year we had over 100 avocados.

        Reply
        • Erica says

          October 4, 2016 at 6:39 am

          Good to know!

          Reply
          • Donna B says

            April 11, 2018 at 8:53 am

            Only works in a warm climate like California. Here in Boston the avocado tree only survives in a greenhouse environment. But the plants can be grown on a windowsill and get very tall and leggy. Leaves tend to grow up on top and looks really odd. Fun for kids- but a bit slow growing.

  3. Kim Vij (@EducatorsSpin) says

    April 3, 2014 at 11:00 am

    I was just telling Amanda last night that I need to do this with my girls. I think they would love it. So glad to see you were successful with it. I think we’re going to try Kale and Carrots too.

    Reply
  4. adrian says

    April 3, 2014 at 11:47 am

    I love this idea. I did this last summer with a green onion from the garden. We had continuous green onions on the window sill for a while. I think I’ll try a sweet potato next.

    Reply
  5. boymamateachermama says

    April 6, 2014 at 11:32 pm

    What a great idea! Thanks for sharing at After School!

    Reply
  6. Shaunna Evans says

    April 9, 2014 at 5:48 am

    I had no idea you could regrow so many different vegetables. What a fun science investigation for kids. Thanks so much for sharing in the Discover & Explore linky. I’m featuring this post today.

    Reply
  7. Julie says

    April 14, 2014 at 4:33 pm

    If you use an organic sweet potato you will have better results. Traditionally grown potatoes are sprayed with a substance meant to prevent the eyes from sprouting. It could be a good side by side experiment.

    Reply
    • Erica MomandKiddo says

      April 14, 2014 at 4:36 pm

      How interesting! That doesn’t surprise me at all! It would explain why my potatoes always sprout on my kitchen counter before I get a chance to eat them! We did, in fact use an organic sweet potato for this project. Since taking this photo it has sprouted a lovely vine. I love your idea of an experiment!

      Reply
      • Sherry says

        April 18, 2015 at 4:52 pm

        After your sweet potato sprouts and grows a few inches tall, break off the sprout and put it into water. When the sprout grows root, you can then plant it in the ground and grow whole new sweet potatoes.

        Reply
        • Erica MomandKiddo says

          April 20, 2015 at 6:23 am

          Great idea! Thanks for the tip. Of course, we would need a yard. 🙂

          Reply
          • Lackie May says

            November 16, 2015 at 2:44 pm

            I may be really late, but there are great articles on growing sweet potatoes in buckets. Just make sure to use food safe containers! I have done it successfully and continue to reuse some of the potatoes each year. It is not super quick, but it is tasty!!

          • Erica MomandKiddo says

            November 17, 2015 at 8:34 am

            Thanks for the tip!

  8. Sunny says

    March 28, 2017 at 11:34 pm

    What is in the pot all the way in the back?

    Reply

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