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Frugal Gardening

What can you grow from veggies bought at the store?

14 years ago

I have sweet potatoes growing in my garden this year (saved from the ones that I planted last year, which were in turn purchased from the produce counter at the local store), and got to wondering, what else could be planted and harvested from supermarket produce? I know about garlic and non sweet potatoes, but can you grow anything else like that? Celery perhaps, or onions? And how would you do it?

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Comments (8)

mr.ed
14 years ago
You could replant horse radish, peaches, cherries, raspberries and strawberries from the seeds, raw peanuts, ginger, and lemons and oranges can also be grown from the seeds. Keep in mind you will not get the original hybrid from seeds
spiced_ham
14 years ago
Most of the tomatoes at the grocery store are not worth growing, the exception are the grape tomatoes, which, although hybrids, I hear grow out pretty close to the parents and taste much better home grown. If you can find Jeruselem artichokes = sunchokes they should grow from the tubers (look like ginger, taste like sweet jicima).

Onions will not grow into anything edible, and even if you grew them out to set seed, growing onions from seed is a pain. I don't think you could get celery to root, and if you did, you couldn't do anything with it.

Pineapple is a fun plant to grow, but you can't do much with it. Cut the top off, strip some of the lower leaves, set in water and then plant when roots sprout.

Avacado seeds will sprout

Melon and winter squash seeds

Bird seed/ sunflower seeds

Dried beans...
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It is close to impossible to find good quality onions in our grocery chain stores. The onions look good in the store. Get them home and start using them and they will have brown layers starting about two three layers down. Within a few days, they are turning soft and end up in the compost bin. Or another thing is the onions start getting black mold on them within days of purchase and quickly rot. The outer layer or skin is clean and normal. Peel one layer down and you see the mold. I read this can happen if onions are not allowed to dry out for a few days before packing. So I think the growers are just ripping them out of the ground and stuffing them in boxes, shipping them in refrigerated trucks from Lord knows where, and then the stores put them in the freezer on arrival. (We had NO PROBLEM with onions for the first 20+ years we lived here. The problem with poor quality for onions and other fresh fruit/produce started in the past 4 or 5 years. It could just be me, but I don't think I suddenly forgot how to store onions at home.) The thing that upsets me most with our local chain grocers is their absolute refusal to identify the origin of fresh fruits and vegetables. There is a large farmers market within 25 miles of us, but it is not convenient to visit on even a weekly basis. In city traffic it is a one hour transit each way. So we are mostly stuck with local grocers for things we don't, or can't grow ourselves. Like onions. The farmers market identifies the place of origin of EVERYTHING it sells. It is huge and they sell both locally grown and imported fruits and vegetables. So why can't the national chains do the same?
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First of all, it is too late to plant onions(from sets) in zones 7 and higher. Second, if you plant a big onion(sprouted already or not) it will grow lots of shoots and one scape that will grow flower and seeds. But even if it did not flower, you will get just one onion. I buy small pearl onions and plant them. The smaller, the better for planting. But You have to do that 8 weeks before your last frost date or earlier. Sure, you can plant store bought scallions if they sell them 25 cents a bunch. For best results smaller ones are better. Keep atleast two inches, bury one inch in the ground. You can go the same with leeks, to use the green like chives. You cut, they will grow back.
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The issue is are they hybrids or heirlooms/open pollinated varieties. If they are hybrids then the seeds you save won't breed true. Hybrid seeds in the packet are the result of manual cross-pollination of at least 2 parent varieties. The seeds saved from those hybrid plants once grown, will revert to the parent stock or some strange combination of them. If your seeds planted and grown are heirlooms or open-pollinated plants, not hybrids, then yes you can save the seeds and re-grow them. Depending on what the plant is - self-fertile like tomatoes or insect pollinated like most flowers, they may or may not grow true. In some cases, like hollyhocks you will still get lots cross-pollination by insects so your saved seeds may change color etc. It all depends on how much you care whether or not the seeds you saved breed true or not. Many don't care, many do. Some research on cross-pollination will explain this in more detail. ;) Dave
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sewobsessed
14 years ago
Lots and lots and lots . . .

Here is a link that might be useful: Plant from the produce department?
gatormomx2
14 years ago
Peppers - green , yellow , red - sweet or hot - do really well from seed .
Try planting the green onion bottoms - the white part with roots . Then continue cutting the green shoots as they grow all summer .
xhappyx
14 years ago
I have been successful with planting old potato into the garden from the grocery store. I saved the seeds from squash and planted that and have a lot of squash growing. I have planted garlic from when the garlic cloves are starting to get a little old, and now I have a nice big ongoing patch of garlic in my yard. Here is one you might be surprised by... When I cut the root end off of scallions I cut it so there is about an inch of scallion with the roots still on them and plant that in the garden and I end up with new scallions growing from it.

Basically, anything with a seed in it can be harvested like melons too. When we were kids we would save carrot tops and plant those, but I don't remember how well the carrots did (it was a very long time ago)
spiced_ham
14 years ago
packaged dried whole peppers often yield good seed.
pseudacris_crucifer
14 years ago
Dill and fennel will grow in the garden. They re-seed themselves prolifically. Added bonus: they are food plants for swallowtail butterflies.
caflowerluver
14 years ago
I have bought different heirloom tomatoes and tried them. If I like the flavor, I save the seeds and grow my own plants or use the seeds for trades. I have grown the mini sweet red, yellow and orange peppers. I save the seeds from winter squash and grow them. I have planted ginger tubers and Jerusalem artichokes. When potatoes grow eyes I plant them. I also have planted shallots and garlic.
Clare

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