It's Sunday-- again! I know that it's bound to happen again, as the days fly past, but seriously, another week gone? How can it be?
I have two posts in progress for you little pin-lovers, and I kicked both of them back a few weeks so that I could tell you about the Pinterest-inspired gardening project that I just started. Since this project actually alive, I'd actively like to prevent it becoming a Pinstrosity. What on earth could this gardening project be? Well, make sure you're sitting down...
I'm attempting to grow my own green onions.
Ha ha ha, I know, this seems lame. It couldn't be less of a "project"-- it's more of a stick little plants in water and hope for the best. But, hear me out. I have a black thumb, so for me, green onion growing really is a project. I'm telling myself that I'm working up to a real vegetable garden, and everybody's gotta start somewhere (baby steps, Rachel, baby steps).
You may remember this from the Everlasting Green Onions post, but who doesn't like an extra throw back day for the week? This also seemed like the perfect time to post about this since we're doing the Use It Up Challenge!
The Original Pin: One Simple Way to Free Green Onions
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| http://thekrazycouponlady.com/at-home/ill-never-pay-again-one-simple-way-to-free-green-onions/ |
The Pin-Progress Project: Day 1
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| Day 1. Sorry, this photo is more blurry than I'd realized. |
You're lookin' at Baby Step #1 toward having my own veggie garden. Yay green onions! My mom bought the orchid for The Nest (our house) for Christmas, and it needed water at the same time that I was getting my green onion project together. I figured that they can hang out. I dunno, I don't understand plants. Maybe they need friends? I've heard they like it when you play them music, so we've been watching Harry Potter while I clean the kitchen.
Carrying on, I found myself one of the quintessential Pinterest staples: a mason-ish jar and followed The Krazy Coupon Lady's simple instructions (summarized below):
1. Don't throw out the white parts of the green onion when you're done cutting them up.
2. Put them in some water.
3. Put them in the light.
4. Wait and hope for the best. (I added this myself, but it's implied with anything that you have to encourage to keep living.)
By Day 4, I thought that my black thumb was starting to rear it's ugly head. Some of the onions were starting to look dead and drooped over the edge of the jar. The ends of the green ones were shriveling. Could I really have done something wrong in the steps between don't throw them out and add some water?!
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| Day 4. |
We persevered, and good news! Here's how we are looking at Day 7 (one whole week!). The new shoots have taken off and are growin' like weeds. I'm going to have to find a better place for them to live, because I think they're going to outgrow the cute little shelf we have them on.
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| Day 7. |
Have any of you attempted to grow green onions before? What do you think, would you try it yourself? I'm always open to tips and tricks. Also, if you can think of anything else that's easy to re-grow, let me know.
I hope each and every one of you has a great week.
Internet-high five,
Rachel
Celery is very easy to regrow. Score the bottom of the root-y bit and put in a dish of water. Keep the water level up and you'll get sprouts.
ReplyDeleteI've grown a potato a few times. You don't get stuff to eat but its very cool on the science table at day care. You get little tiny potatoes on the roots.
And you can start your own pumpkin inside as a plant project.Start a pie pumpkin now and have your own home grown pumpkin for Halloween! http://www.pinterest.com/pin/280067670550335530/
ReplyDeleteMy black thumb and I tried this once and the one thing I learned it to change the water. It gets real gross and slimy. If I ever do this again (and I may not, we eat the white parts!) I would try actually planting them in soil to avoid the whole gross water part.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter started doing this with the last green onions I purchased for some stir fry. It's pretty awesome to now having something green producing in the kitchen. Easy to harvest too! -Carole at GardenUp green
ReplyDeleteWhen it said "don't throw out the white parts when you are done cutting them", it meant the root part that is left AFTER you slice up ALL the rest of the green onion. So you plant just the 1/2 inch roots part. That's how you get "new" green onions. LOL It looks like you planted the whole green ion bunch. You will get new leaves to use but no new onion. You can use the leaves as garnish like chives or cook with them though so no loss!
ReplyDeleteI can't add to Moonflowr's comment anything clever except that you don't need "green" onion to do this and you certainly don't need the leaves, you can eat them, they won't grow the cut parts back. You can use any old onion that still has the roots and cover about 1cm of the lower part of the bulb with water.
ReplyDeleteCut them off about 1" from the bottom (I tried 1/2" and it just rotted half of them), pop them in a cut of water in some light (a window etc) and give them a bit. Change the water about once a week though, or it will get really nasty. If I have extra onions after using a store-bought bunch, I put the extras in water in my window and let them grow, too. Then will get really, really long if you let them!
ReplyDeleteI had success with the green onions. I agree with Moonflwr though it looks like you stuck the whole bunch in while this technique is for regrowing green onions once they are cut. Also make sure they are getting plenty of light. I stuck a bunch of ends in jar in my window and got a few clippings off of them before I felt it was time for them to go. Amber is right on the money too. Listen to those two girls and it'll work out fine. :)
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with BlackKitty about not needing to use green onions. I grow green onions all the time but I tend to call it "the onion sets weren't planted in the right spot, and we only ended up with greens."
ReplyDeleteI have done this as well! I agree with changing the water frequently - just like flowers in a vase, it gets slimy. Also, I used a glass instead of a jar - I don't know if it let the onions "breathe" more but it worked really well for me. (I also have a "black thumb"... the only plant I own is a cactus, and the only reason it lives is because it doesn't need me or anything else, really.)
ReplyDeleteYes, as others have said - what's great about this trick is that you can actually use the green onion up first, all the way down to about 1" from the roots, and then plant just that bit of white which is left.
ReplyDeleteI've been doing this now for a few months. I also do this with fresh herbs like cilantro, dill and parsley. Although those I leave in the fridge and refresh the water every few days. Long lasting fresh herbs... YAY!
ReplyDeleteI do this and I also store my fresh green herbs in water - like my cilantro, mint, dill and parsley. I use a mason jar and fill it up half way, dunk in my bushel of herb and park it in the fridge. I refresh the water every two days. I love adding fresh herbs to my food - and this is an easy way to do it.
ReplyDelete