Transform leftovers into an indoor allotment
THE price of food is going up so it’s time to get serious about growing our own food. Even if you don’t have a garden or a balcony, you can grow fruit and veg indoors. Amazon has a seed-growing kit for £12.99 which includes pots, soil and vegetable seeds for you to set up your own indoor allotment. Or you can grow new plants from your veggie leftovers for free. Next time you make a salad, for example, keep the white stem of your Little Gem or Romaine lettuce and put it in a container with some water by the window. After about two weeks roots should sprout and you can put it into a pot of soil to grow. You can also re-grow spring onions by keeping the white roots intact, putting them half submerged in a jar of water and letting it sprout on the windowsill in the light. Cut off the bottom of celery where the stalks hold together and put this in a container of water for three days. When small leaves start to sprout in the middle, plant in a pot of soil with leaves sticking out. Then just keep it in sunlight and water regularly. Herbs are also easy to grow indoors — best in the kitchen for easy access while cooking — and most can be grown from a stem cutting. Just take cuttings from below where the leaves sprout then put them in water in indirect sunlight. Keep changing the water; roots should grow within two weeks so you can plant them.
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