Roots & Shoots Put your zero waste lifestyle aspirations into practice by showing kids that it’s entirely possible – and super-simple – to regrow new organic vegetables from scraps. You will need: •• Small glass container, deep dish or a drinking glass / small pots •• Soil •• Garlic cloves/the thick base of a celery Instructions To regrow celery: 1. Once you have used all the stalks on your bunch of celery, place the base in a container, deep dish or glass with clean, room-temperature water. 2. Leave on the windowsill or somewhere that the base will get gentle sunlight. 3. New leaves should start to grow within five days. 4. Once the leaves are a little bigger, you can transfer your celery base into a pot filled with potting soil. 5. Plant the base in the soil with the leaf tips exposed and place in a spot that gets generous sunlight. 6. Water regularly. 7. After a week or two you should see stalks start to emerge.
To regrow garlic: 1. Try to buy organic garlic to begin with. This should ensure that it has not been chemically treated, which often prevents sprouting. 2. Fill a pot with potting soil and plant cloves (sprouting or not) around 1cm to 2cm down so they are covered. 3. Leave on a sunny windowsill or spot on the balcony or in the garden. 4. Water regularly but do not soak the soil or the cloves will rot. 5. Your garlic sprouts should start to push through the soil after about a month. 6. After several months you should notice hard, grass-like leaves growing from the centre of the plant. 7. Once these start to curl and brown, your garlic is ready to harvest. TIPS
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In the initial stages of growing celery from the base, keep the water that it is in clear and fresh. The process of regrowth can be repeated indefinitely for both vegetables. Spring onions (also known as green onions) and chives can be regrown by cutting them about 10cm from the base of the root and standing them in a glass of clean water on a sunny windowsill.
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