3 ways to grow vegetables from leftovers

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published 29 May 2020

Lockdown got you feeling all wholesome and wanting a taste of the good life? Well this week's episode of the Real Homes Show is for you because we show you how to grow tasty root veggies (we are talking potatoes, sweet potatoes and onions) from your leftovers! And yes, it really works! Watch the video and then check out the simple step-by-step guide below.

For more garden ideas and grow your own inspiration, check out our hub.

1. Growing potatoes from scraps

Potatoes are a staple food in most UK homes and all you need to grow them is peelings about two-inches long with a couple of eyes on. Allow the peelings to dry out overnight and then simply plant them about four inches deep in soil in a tall container. Make sure that the eyes are facing up when planting.

It’ll take a few weeks and then you should start to see the potato plants begin to grow when the potatoes are ready. It’ll take about 10 weeks after planting for most potato varieties to be ready to harvest.

Find out more about how to plant potatoes in our full guide.

2. Growing sweet potatoes from scratch

Sweet potatoes take a little more work but can be regrown from scraps. You’ll need to take half a sweet potato, insert some toothpicks and suspend it above a shallow bowl of water. Within a few days, roots will begin to grow from the bottom while shoots will appear on the top.

Once these shoots have reached about four inches in length, twist them off and set them in a shallow bowl of water. Roots will begin growing and once these have reached about an inch long, you can plant them outdoors, leaving the leaves above the soil. Sweet potatoes love sandy soils, lots of sun and lots of space.

Find out how to cook sweet potatoes in our guide.

3. Growing onions from scratch

Onions are really easy to grow indoors or out. You just have to cut the root of the onion off and make sure that you leave about a half an inch of onion when you do. Just place an onion bottom in the ground and it will regenerate its roots.

Once roots appear, remove the old onion bottom and then allow the roots to grow. Harvest when the onions are fully grown, which will take a couple of months.

Find out how to store onions in our guide.

Here's our guide to planting your own kitchen garden
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Hebe joined the Real Homes team in early 2018 as Staff Writer before moving to the Livingetc team in 2021 where she took on a role as Digital Editor. She loves boho and 70's style and is a big fan of Instagram as a source of interiors inspiration. When she isn't writing about interiors, she is renovating her own spaces – be it wallpapering a hallway, painting kitchen cupboards or converting a van.