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As a suggestion, be sure to use a healthy non-GMO plant to start. This way you don’t carry forward any questionable traits or health defects in your own garden.

Related: Study shows genetically modified crops can cause liver and kidney damage

Starting from the root

The following garden vegetables, root and herbs have the ability to regenerate and grow an entire new plant from a root scrap or plant trimming; We selected these vegetables in particular because we use them the most frequently, and therefore benefit greater by growing these vegetables again and again opposed to less commonly used vegetables.

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Fennel

Leek

Spring onion

Scallion

Lemon Grass

Celery

Romaine lettuce[/column]

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Bok Choy

Cabbage

Potatoes

Onion

Garlic

Ginger[/column]

Fennel, leek, spring onion, and scallion

Place the white roots in a container with about 1/2 cm – 1 cm of water and place in a sunny window. If you don’t have a sunny area to grow plants, you can find growing lamps here. Once you begin to see some root growth, transplant into a container with soil and keep in a well lit area.

Lemon grass

Once again, simply place the roots in a container with about 1/2 cm – 1 cm of water and place in a sunny window. Once you begin to see some new growth, transplant your lemon grass into a container with soil and keep it in a well lit area. Once it reaches about a foot tall, it’s ready for harvest. Trim what you need, and allow the plant to continue to grow.

It will take 4 – 8 months to grow initially, and 3 – 4 months for ever proceeding harvest with a life span of about 4 years.

Celery, romaine, bok choy, and cabbage

The process remains the same for these vegetables; However because of the size of the root, you’ll need a bowl of water with your roots trimmed down to an inch or two and the water level covering them by about two-thirds. Keep your plant moist, and in a well lit area.

After 1 – 2 weeks, you’ll notice roots and foliage begin to grow, indicating it’s time to transplant your baby plant into soil in a well lit area. Continue to keep it moist it’s first two weeks, and several weeks later you’ll have a healthy head of foliage ready to be harvested.

Potato

If you leave your potatoes in a cupboard like I do, it isn’t long before roots, also known as “eyes” begin to develop. Find yourself a healthy looking specimen with plenty of eyes, and cut it up into 4 – 8 pieces, trying to get at least 2 eyes to each sliced piece. Some say the more eyes on a potato, the larger the crop. After that, allow your potato pieces to dry out for 3 days, so they don’t rot under ground.

When you plant your potato pieces into fertile planting soil, dig a whole around 8 inches deep, and place your piece with its eyes aiming skyward. Only fill the hole back up half way to ensure your plant can breathe. Once you begin to see growth peek out past the soil, go ahead and finish covering in the hole as required. It’s going to take about 4 – 8 months before harvest, provided you have used a quality soil, rich in nutrients.

Onion

Cut the root off, leaving some of the onion attached. Please the onion trimming directly into your garden, and cover with soil 1 – 2 cm. Keep it most during the initial 21 day germination period, and 6 – 8 months later they will be ready for harvest.

Garlic

It only takes one clove to grow a garlic bulb, and just like the onion, garlic requires little hassle to grow your own. Simply place a garlic clove root-down into the soil of your garden, in a well lit area, and keep it moist during germination. Depending on when you planted your garlic, it can take roughly 6 – 9 months until harvest.

Ginger

Ginger requires less sunlight to grow, and it makes a great house plant. Growing ginger is as simple as putting a piece of it under soil, buds aiming skyward, should there be any. After a few weeks, roots will take hold, and foliage will sprout. If you’ve ever grown aloe, it’s quite similar in the sense that at any time you can cut a piece out and use it, or grow another plant.

If you haven’t grown aloe before, please do! It’s not for eating so much as it is for rubbing on skin abrasions and burns.

(Title image includes work used under Creative Commons attribution license, by the incredibly talented David Lanham)

