Growing a Garden from GROCERY STORE FOOD!

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[@janegallagher5427]

I have taken an unused chamomile tea bag and sprinkled the tea in a small garden bed and it gave me many many chamomile plants.

[@heavystricker]

Brilliant!!!

[@mccarthyhome]

Thanks for the idea. I wanted to grow some Chamomile this year and I have seed head tea from the farmers market. I’ll try those.

[@terryhall2299]

I buy herbal tea online. I wonder if I sprinkle some of those herbal blends in soil if they would grow. Now you’ve got me thinking! I might have to try that!

[@tunin21frequency9]

Woohoo!

[@sharoncourt75]

🥰

[@donrainesoh]

I worked at Walmart and found out that those on EBT/food stamps can purchase seeds and vegetable plants with their benefits. I thought that was really awesome because someone may be struggling financially but able to put in a little time to grow some healthy food for their families.

[@joaneyharris4115]

Some states will also allow you to buy fruit trees with EBT

[@pattykelly6621]

That's very good to know. I can share that information.

[@thefallenshelf]

Thank you for this information o.o I desperately needed it o.o

[@bmr250]

My favorite experimental grocery store garden plant was a squash, It was supposed to be a spaghetti squash , but when it produced it was a green striped squash, LIke a cross between a zucchini and spaghetti , slightly narrower at the top. But when I cooked it like a spaghetti squash, it was more tender and sweeter than the crispy bite of a spaghetti squash. It did have the feel of the spaghetti with the strands. You bet I saved those seeds! I call them my Zusketti squash. I can't wait to see what will grow from the seeds now.

[@desireerudolph5992]

That is neat. 😁

[@zsaqiacamphor9483]

Now I would love those seeds😍

[@kiki29073]

Mine are growing now and I just threw them out and they come up last month.

[@yvonnebullard4769]

I’ll never forget my “accidental” cantaloupe. Somehow a seed from a store bought cantaloupe made it over into our dormant burn pile. What came of that seed was the most beautiful, juiciest, and THE sweetest cantaloupe I have ever eaten in my life!

[@roseydays]

i grew cantaloup also from store bought cantaloup

[@RaisingJane]

That happened to me as well this year!

[@erosfleming2911]

What was in your burn pile out of curiosity

[@wytchwoodhomesteadandkenne5036]

I don't normally comment, but I will on this one because I have an interesting story. This last summer and it was actually getting late as well, I threw a couple of store bought tomatoes in the general direction of the compost heap from my front door and quite obviously missed. They rolled off somewhere who-knows-where but weeks later one of my friends pointed towards an old child's sandbox (a purple turtle!) that I had been planning on turning into a raised garden bed and it had just a little bit of dirt in it and a whole bunch of swampy water (and was tilted on its side!) because we had to move it suddenly one day out of the way so a vehicle could get through the yard LOL and they said, "Is that tomato?" There were six tomato plants growing in that and not only did they become substantially big, but they actually produced red ripe tomatoes, albeit small ones, before our first frost. And since I'm in zone 6B in Southeast Missouri, that was a lot later than it should have been but still... I was absolutely thrilled because I was unable to have a garden at all this year, and a couple of rotten tomatoes gifted me tomatoes so I would have something.

[@kellylynnstudios2185]

Hi fellow 6b MO! I'm on the far east side of KCMO:)

[@nancyfaircloth3224]

Thank you for sharing.

[@karenh.7086]

What a great story!

[@midsouthhomestead7527]

My son moved there 2 years ago from Tn. He loves it.

[@midsouthhomestead7527]

That is so cool.

[@marcialittle7893]

I grew 98.2 pounds of sweet potatoes last year from 4 store bought sweet potatoes that I put in water and made slips, then planted. Living Traditions Homestead and Hollis and Nancy's Homestead both have tutorial videos on KZbin. Love it!

[@goldenglowladore3842]

Thank you for the heads-up! I love sweet potatoes and will try this. Hope to find out how and when.

[@TheCreativeWellUK]

Did anyone mention strawberries yet? In 2020 I took some eyebrow tweezers and picked a whole bunch of seeds out of one well ripened strawberry. I dried them on a paper plate and then in January last year sowed some indoors. I grew them on until they were ready to go in containers outside after the last frost. I've heard that strawberry plants don't produce much in their first year but one of them really took off and we got lots of beautiful strawberries from it. The others grew large but as predicted were limited on the amount of fruit. They did however develop fantastic crowns and went on to send out lots of runners which I sat into fresh pots. So now I have 12 (maybe even 15) strawberry plants all looking great as they rest for the winter. I'm already excited about harvesting a bumper crop this summer . And all from the seeds of one single strawberry 🍓. Winner!!

[@klattin1501]

Thank you for sharing. Ive only had experience with actual strawberry plants. Im intrigued with starting some from over ripe strawberries!

[@daniellehaggard7401]

My everbearing strawberries came back this year in grow bags. I am gonna try the tweezer method this year. We had so many eaten by slugs and birds that we may have some volunteers where I threw them last year.

[@JeffTheHokie]

The problem is supermarket strawberries are not very good. They are bred for long transport and shelf life over flavor. They are picked unripe and redden on their way to the store. They have also been bred for growing conditions in California. If there is a "pick-your-own" strawberry farm where you live, start with those, and do your seed experiment off of them.

[@monicasmadeinmaine1114]

I sliced down the sides, threw them in some dirt and watered them. I’ve got full plants now from December. Under lights.

[@KE-hr4sb]

My sister did an experiment last year. She bought some different kinds of garlic cloves from a seed place, and then she took a handful of store-bought cloves, and planted them all. The store-bought ones were actually her biggest garlic. Also, my mom had this really cool tree in her backyard: it was actually two trees, so close together that they grew intertwined and looked like one tree. One half was plums, the other half was peaches. I guess someone had been eating fruit and spit the seeds out, and up came those trees.

[@mellissabgarden1549]

I was on vacation with my husband last September we went to a mini golf place and when we were golfing I look over and noticed that their patch of zinnias head were already dried up with a head of seeds I sneak over to take some if the head and turn around and my husband was standing there and said "seriously" and I said "yep and can you put them in your pocket because I don't have any pockets" then he rolled his eye....lol

[@tashap5144]

I feel like I could have written this post. HA. Hubby is constantly rolling his eyes at my seed collecting. Whatevs, When he have awesome flowers and I spend no money you'll stop thinking I'm crazy!

[@brendalouquilts]

We are still eating the most delicious acorn squash from the original seeds I saved from the grocery store about 5 years/generations ago. Last year was the first time I tried ginger (my daughter bought a huge package from CostCo and wasn't going to use it all). Garlic, potatoes, sweet potatoes all have made it into my garden. I bought dill seeds 8 years ago and they just reseed and reseed every year. I've started celery from storebought celery bottoms, leaf lettuces and green onions all from the store. In fact, I haven't bought green onions for a few years because I replant the bottom 3/4" and they grow and grow. We live across the road from a sweet corn farmer and he gave us several cobs. We let one dry and planted the seeds last year and enjoyed our own sweet corn. Every time we get a pumpkin I save the seeds for next year. I was given a ghost (white) pumpkin so I'll give those a try next year. Never thought about Fennel seed. I'm going to try that. Every year about 3 weeks after I spread my compost pile around the newly planted seedlings I find random tomato, pumpkin, and squash plants. Of course I let them grow. It's all part of what I do. The week after the first Covid lockdown my hubby built me a greenhouse and I love planting all of my seedling babies.....this year I had over 200 seedlings to share with family and friends. Because many of my seeds are my own saved seeds I plant extras to insure I get good germination. This 70 year old gardener loves Jess and even though I've been gardening over 60 years I learn something all the time. BrendaLou of Deerwood Farms in rural Jordan, MN

[@shannijones4587]

you are amazing! thanks for sharing that information!

[@conniefletcher6884]

BrendaLou Scott, I love this!

[@shelleyhermary1958]

We are from Alberta what can we grow here -40 in the wintertime? From the grocery store?

[@MamaZsTexasKitchen]

I have grown a lot of peppers from store bought stuff. My husband laughs at me because I save so many seeds but like in 2020 when seeds were harder to find it came in handy!

[@vinlago]

Ah yes, they giggle and laugh but when their bellies are full they giggle and laugh with gratitude and love. ♥️

[@AshleyAshleyAshley395]

My husband laugh at me too. I’m growing papaya, pomegranate, mango and cantaloupe from grocery store fruit seeds.

[@jasmynesartstudio]

This is actually really important. There are many people who cannot make it to a seed store. A lot of those stores are far and in between, and many who are concerned about food security may not have transportation to get there. Keep up the good work, Jess. I did not realize how much I can get to grow just by going to the grocery store

[@EmmaMG21]

After so many years, I still get teary eyes when you end the video blessing us.. I grew up in the capital of Romania, on the 6th floor of an apartment block. My dad had chilli peppers and basil growing in pots on the balcony, along with flowers and cacti- his pride and joy. I now live in East London and have (rent) a little, tiny garden and I’ve been growing things. It brings so much joy to be able to eat something you’ve grown! I like flowers, but LOVE our raspberries (so do our 4 children) rosemary, garlic, lovage.. When the lovage shows it’s first leaves, I know spring is coming. I long for a bigger space to grow. We haven’t got our own place yet.. I’m pacing around my “waiting room” and in the meantime I’m learning and growing interest watching you, Jess. Thank you for the lessons! The practical ones and the heartfelt ones 🤗

[@christiehedges7552]

Last year I needed a cardboard to layer under a new raised bed so living in a small town I searched behind some local businesses for old boxes that had been thrown out. I found one that had a five pound sack of red potatoes in it. So I took them home and planted them. They grew beautifully! Had more potatoes than I could eat. Love your classroom style videos. Very well done!

[@susansemple6008]

Beautiful find!!

[@jenniferchristiansen2040]

Great story!

[@milissaleatherwood6837]

My mom can not grow stuff. I don't know why but she has been like that my whole life. We had a farm when I was a real young and mom dealt with the animals and my dad was the gardener. I learned from him. One year me and my sister were out playing in the field that the cows were in, on the way to the trails between our farm and the next. We had to go past where the pig pen had been the year before and we found the biggest zucchini I have ever seen. It took both of us to carry it. Turns out the only way my mom can grow plants is through a pigs belly 😂

[@ChannonRoseVlogs]

I loved this video!

[@jillianhicks3793]

William was like the cherry on top of a nice, helpful video! He's beautiful. Made me think of Kitten George.

[@nyx5743]

Please keep up this "classroom" content! Even as an experienced gardener, going back to basics is always a comfy and relaxing experience with you Jess! God bless

[@HeyJordanRae]

I totally agree

[@marygeorge9688]

I. Agree.

[@brushandbramblefarm4905]

I agree!!

[@lynzysconstitutionalcrashc7836]

My son wanted to plant something last summer (he's 5)...it was too late in the season to invest big...I gave him a handful of mustard seed from my pickling stash and he planted them in a kiddie pool... up came some mustard flowers!

[@sonder2164]

Good job! Mustard greens are very nutritious.

[@lindakangas1045]

That's awesome.

[@masroorahmed866]

Mustard plants are eaten as vegetables in South Asia. They are very delicious to us

[@christinavillalpando8223]

I use mustard seed in my curry

[@masroorahmed866]

@Santas Teffon Teflon I am sure everybody has unique & delicious food culture. Our taste buds are used to our own food culture mostly but we love others as well.

[@Joyfulfarmer]

Something I tried this year is growing peanuts…bought raw peanuts, shelled them, stuck them in the ground, and grew fine! Germination was maybe 70%, but wayyyy cheaper than shelled peanuts sold as seed.

[@michellebodjanac1709]

I’ve grown it as an experiment too!

[@Joyfulfarmer]

@Jen they look like little bushes. You could grow a plant in a container. There would just need to be enough soil surface area for the nodes to grow peanuts when they drop from the plant. I was surprised by the way they grow.🙂

[@betsylutz6563]

Last year I bought a 1-pound package of dry pinto beans for 79 cents at the grocery store to use for cooking. I took about 1/3 of them and planted them in 3 short rows in my little garden. They flourished and I was able to can 46 pints and 5 quarts of green beans. That was in addition to the batches of fresh green beans that we ate and several batches we shared with neighbors. I think they taste just like any other green bean and they were the most prolific bean I have ever planted.

[@BarefootInAppalachia]

Rule of thumb: when Jess says to grab a cup of coffee, you pause the vlog, get up, and get yourself a cup of coffee! 😂

[@LLAMA-LLAMA]

Amen to that!🤣

[@journeytohomestead527]

Yup and a notebook or note pad. This is how I came up with my Christmas list 🤣🤣🤣

[@karenh.7086]

Or a beer🙂🙂🙂

[@jacobmeekhof8614]

Will hot a chocolate work

[@mio.giardino]

Glass of Chardonnay here… we had an open bottle so it needed to be had, and no, I didn’t have it all 😂

[@ginaeairheart2086]

After years of disappointment with over buying green onions and having to thrown half or more away from not being used quick enough...I have learned to keep a pot of soil near a window and stick them in there until I use them! Works great and I haven't had to thrown many away for awhile now! 😁

[@LLAMA-LLAMA]

Great idea!

[@trishapomeroy9251]

Brilliant! I'm going to have to try this as we too are always throwing out some green onions every time we buy a bunch.

[@Alexis_9339]

I do this too! And if I just need a garnish I just snip some off the top and it’ll grow back a few times.

[@kristinestanden6850]

I've done well with rooting celery stalk bottoms. It was 3-4 inches tall then the rabbit's got it. Thanks for the spice seed idea, that s one I hadn't thought of. Will try the sweet potato slip, but wondered if they are the same as the ones with the flowers in lawn n garden ? What about the ornamental purple kale in lawn n garden?

[@Alexis_9339]

@@kristinestanden6850 in a previous video I believe she said to not do ornamental things because they are allowed to be grown with things that aren’t safe to consume because they aren’t meant for consumption.

[@mistycarter9809]

I've sprouted and grown a peach tree from a pit out of a roadside stand. I've sprouted strawberries from a store berry. My elephant garlic game from the store. Potatoes, green onions, and leeks are all growing from store produce. I squished a cherry tomato into a pot and grew tons! I just picked up some pine cones from the yard...will it sprout? That's the fun part of the game! My sweet potato is putting off slips... that's next!

[@mikebenstead7600]

Greetings from Australia. POATOES: Try this - When you buy potatoes for the kitchen store them until they sprout. When the sprouts are about an inch long break them off, plant them in starter cups , keep them well watered and plant them out when they are a few inches tall. You get HEAPS of new plants that way and you still get to eat the potatoes you paid for.

[@shall9858]

This year I had a great surprise! I was letting a volunteer grow in the garden to see what it was...by mid summer could not identify it so I pulled it out. Was stunned to see the 12 inch plant was attached to a peach pit. Must have grown from the compost I added to the garden. I replanted the peach seedling in my yard and have a 3 foot tall peach tree that I am hoping survives this winter. Zone 5

[@shellieh685]

Nice!

[@Emeraldwitch30]

You're lucky! Peaches are know to kinda breed true. Like if you plant a decent flavored peach you'll probably end up with a decent peach.

[@shall9858]

@@Emeraldwitch30 great! It was from one of the pits in the compost which we would have eaten. Hoping to fill my front yard with them if I can get more to grow.

[@Emeraldwitch30]

@@shall9858 I have one peach tree left. My first 2 broke. But one had great big, white fleshed Freestone peaches with big pink blooms. That one the darn squirrels loved. They planted a few around the yard for me. Only one of those is left and its an almost identical clone to the original tree. I think if I get a few peaches this year I might try to plant more on purpose. I'm sitting here watching vids on plants. Making my seed wish list and checking it twice lol and dreaming of my garden, while looking out at 8 to 9 inches of new fallen snow here in michigan(us). My grow lights are on and I have lettuce and bok choi and green onions going. Just about to set up one bank of lights just for my onions. Green onions called Lisbon white bunching and a nice one called Tokyo negi(they were given to me by a neighbor who got them from her Japanese neighbor it just says Tokyo negi in English lol not sure if it is the name or where its from cuz im sure negi means onion lol). And my Zebruune shallots will be started soon too. They do better if I can get them going by end of January for me. And I use just the $23 to $20 LED shop lights. 5000 lumins from Walmart and sams club. I'm about to buy 3 more sets with my birthday moola! Lol. Also I recommend those big stainless steel shelving units at sams(costco has them too) they are resturant quality and you can set the shelves far apart so you can rachet the LEDs up and down by little chains (or fancy pulleys but im kinda frugal lol). My shallow big hard plastic shelves are okay but there is a huge limit on how big the plants can get. So they are used only for seed starting. Then I move to the big stainless if not time to go out in greenhouse. (Its tiny too lol 8 by 12 about 6 1/2 tall but oh my its a game changer for early/ late season extension.) Oopsy. I get excited about gardening and start writing whole books on KZbin ☺☺🤣🥰

[@kristinestanden6850]

@@Emeraldwitch30 where in Mi are you located? I'm near Alpena.

[@DeconstructionBarbie91]

I have grown potatoes, garlic, peppers, tomatoes and this year I’m doing ginger and sweet potatoes. The first year we did them we bought from Walmart in the regular section because we did not have a lot of money. Every single thing I planted grew abundantly. That year I saved for the next year and have saved from the past years planting ever since. All from cheap Walmart produce. Like Jess said, now if I’m getting something from the store I prefer to get organic or fair trade but I do not regret starting my garden with those things and building up my own little stock each year ❤️. Do not ever be discouraged in growing your own food! It’s is possible with experimentation and trial and error!

[@connieellis925]

It's so good to hear that you also grow your own garden , and preserve it. Been saving seeds the last 3 or 4 years . Have had a garden for over 30 years now. An helped in my moms garden since I was a teen. People will say why do you do all that work, I reply do you know what's in your food from store?? I didn't start going totally organic years ago. Son has beehives close to the garden. God Bless

[@robinsmith8334]

Mom...78...cut a sweet pepper and threw out all the seeds in a box of dirt and garbage...about a week later hundreds of pepper seedlings were filling that box...burnt up in the Florida sun but we were both surprized, pleased and have since planted as you do veggies from the store just to see now if it will grow.

[@jnlc222]

I watched this video a while back and thought OMG!!! So I had a bag of pinto, navy and great northern beans and thought Im gonna give it a try!!! I had an empty bed so I thought why not! So I split the bed up between the 3 beans and guess what??? We got beans!!! They look just like the beans that I bought at the store and planted!!! I thought ok well lets try this again, I just planted another whole bed of pinto beans! Thanks Jess for this. Oh by the way, when it was time to shuck the beans my husband said, let me help you, I said ok, well he is the one that told me to plant more beans because he like popping the beans out of the pods! He says he has a new job to help out with the garden!!! Thanks again Jess, LOVE watching your videos!

[@crystalhanson7692]

I bought spoiling food from a local organic store and was able to grow an entire summer garden from food scraps. I had tomatoes, potatoes, green peppers, celery, green onions, lettuce, herbs, and I think a few others but I can’t remember. Some turned out great, others were kind of wimpy, but I think the success had more to do with my lack of understanding about proper soil and growing everything in pots. It is good to know my kiss of death hands might not be my fault when it comes to basil and cilantro, so I’ll try sprouting proper seeds next time and not getting herb plants from the grocery store. Thanks for the informative video, I’m excited to try all the citrus seeds I’ve been saving, pretty sure they’re cross pollinated, but I like citrus trees 😊

[@samanthajean237]

“Store bought tomatoes taste like disappointment.” Ohhh I’m feeling this right now Jess!

[@irmibullinger1421]

Oh me too! I had tons of tomatoes last summer and was so sorry when I ate the last ones. It was a glorious tomato summer all the way to November! lol A day before the first frost was to hit, I picked off 2 huge strainers of green tomatoes from the last plant. I let them ripen at will on my kitchen table and ate most of them myself, besides the ones I gave to my friend

[@marilynrafla6628]

I went grocery shopping with my oldest, tomato was on the list but he pointed they don't look good, they were almost still green so obviously I spoiled him by growing a variety of tomatoes at home and teaching them how to spot the ripe ones.

[@frantracey8737]

Yes. I send away for heirloom seeds & I was given some watermelon which had absolutely no flavor. I'm in Australia, so different seed suppliers to you.

[@popuphomesteadlivingoffgri8606]

That made me laugh

[@JudyCrayCray]

Have y’all tried the yellow tomatillos? If not I highly recommend! There delicious in a salsa with roasted chille de árbol, a few cherry tomatoes and yellow tomatillos. Low Blend so it’s kinda chunky and salt to taste.

[@adelegrossi5003]

I have grown potatoes from chunks of potato..14. tomatoes plants from a slice of tomato planted. Pumpkins and coriander. Currently waiting on a date pip, avocado and mango seed. I also grew a lemon tree from a seed to. It's fascinating to watch these types of video.

[@ourheritageworks]

I looked at my grocery store this last weekend. I think for my size of garden (25'x30') I can get a package of dried beans for soup (15 Bean Soup). I should be able to get all of the beans, peas, legumes that I need, even if I need to sow extra for germination rates. That is $2.00 for all that I need. Talk about a budget helper!! Thanks again Jess for the idea!

[@helenachase5627]

I wonder if the alphabet macaroni will sprout , lol !

[@qleartearcrusade9361]

I'm going to try that. Never thought of it.

[@ourheritageworks]

@@qleartearcrusade9361 As a follow-up, my sprouts are about 6 inches tall and I had an extremely high germination rate.

[@jongrubaugh160]

Yeah, that's what In was thinking.

[@thefallenshelf]

@@helenachase5627 😂😂😂😂😂

[@theNaniLynch]

In my 70's and planted from store seeds lots. My Mom lived through the depression and taught me how. She was just like your Mom with dead heads. In fact, she would embarrass the devil out of us cause she would do that in nurseries. Go in peoples yards to get a cutting of something she wanted!! LOL You made me laugh with memories today. BTW I have had some seeds for 10 years and they still grow.

[@homeandgardendiaries6384]

My Mom used to do the same thing, going into strangers gardens. She loved geraniums and would get cuttings and grow them on in our garden. I was always concerned that the owner would open their front door and hated the “Beware of the dog” signs!

[@soulsteading1564]

I’m definitely a save-every-seed-I-see kind of person, and it wore off on my daughter. She was four at the time, and we had bought some chocolate covered almonds at the store. She sucked the chocolate off of them and put them in a cup of water to “grow more chocolate covered almonds” 😂 needless to say we had a lesson on where chocolate comes from lol

[@shellieh685]

Oh my, that is too cute!😊

[@HS-jh4zm]

What a precious story! 😊

[@theurbanthirdhomestead]

I'm going to try this with chocolate covered blueberries! 🫐 😉

[@broj2371]

This makes my heart so happy. Thank you for sharing 😍

[@shulaatlanta]

I am a new gardener just learning in my 70s .... and this year I grew an entire bed of sweet potatoes 4' x 12' from the slips grown from ONE store-bought sweet potato!!

[@TheMidnightGardener]

I've grown, garlic, ginger, tumeric, green onions, tomatoes and potatoes, from the grocery store. Plus lots of random volunteers from the compost pile.

[@greenbean9872]

You can also use store-bought bulk chia, flax, sesame, mung beans, lentils as a cover crop!

[@stephaniegeorge3421]

I use the for sprouts to eat and feed the chickens as well as growing some micro greens like quinoa

[@hannahkayee831]

@@stephaniegeorge3421 I grow sprouts for my pet birds. They do very well!

[@theurbanthirdhomestead]

Yasss! I was just looking at some chia seeds and flax seeds in my pantry wondering if I could do this.

[@ooohlaa13]

@@theurbanthirdhomestead u just have to get the kind from health food store that have not been radiated, altho some radiated do grow ok, and they can't be real old. Also I kept some seeds above my instant pot area and I think the steam cooked the seeds because would not sprout and I have been sprouting for decades, so its not error on my part. Sprouts are wondrous!

[@theurbanthirdhomestead]

@@ooohlaa13 yes, they are from the health food store. Good to know about the ones above the stove; I keep a lot of spices up there. I guess the coriander probably wouldn't make any cilantro now. Oops. I wonder if that makes spices any less healthy? I might move them.

[@ashleemirarchi972]

I love growing lemon seeds from store bought lemons! I know I’ll probably never get any lemons but they are fun to grow, free seed and make a beautiful houseplant!

[@CastledarkDweller27]

Good Lord Woman! i know nothing about gardening and had no desire to grow anything. THEN i saw your face in the thumbnail and went OH I REMEMBER HER FROM AN ANIMALS VIDEO...SHE IS SO KNOWLEDGABLE ...I LOVE HER...so i clicked and watched. Again could not turn it off. You are so watchable, and so easy to understand, and i learnt SO MUCH just from this half hour my mind is boggling and im full of enthusiasm and about to dig up my yard and run to my kitchen to see what i can find to try and grow! YOU ARE A WONDERFUL BLESSING. THANKYOU so much.

[@nitanice]

Intenionally or accidentally, I've grown so many things from the store: rosemary, basil, onion, purple potato, sweet potatoes (two kinds) papayas, mangoes, lemon, orange, ginger and turmeric. The sweet potatoes probably gave me about 30 pounds of sweet potatoes!

[@joannmahaffey1068]

Jess great video. Here's the scoop on potatoes from the grocery store. Yes organic is best as they were not grown with chemicals and not sprayed with sprout retardant. The very best I have found are the organic fancy tiny potatoes which you may think are expensive untill you go on line and check the price of seed potatoes. I find the quality is just as good as seed potatoes and sometimes better. (There are different grades of seed potatoes but that is for another discussion) Any potato that is sprouting (organic or not) has not been sprayed with growth retatdent and is safe to grow. You can check potatoes that are not sprouting for growth retardant by putting a whole potato in a bright but not sunny window. If you do not see sprouts in 2 weeks, do not plant it (and maybe do not eat it) Sprouting whole potatoes in a window or well lit pace is a very good way to get a jump on the season as the sprouts will turn green and even sometimes form little leaves. This is called Chitting and is an old English technique for getting an early start in short season climates. When you plant these about 1 inch under the surface of the soil they will push leaves up in a couple of days if the conditions are right. contrary to what many people think, cutting big whole potatoes into sections with at least one eye per section, air drying them over night or till they feel dry to the touch, is not Chitting as these pieces are planted in the ground within one to two days of being cut. The sprouts have not had a chance to grow and turn green. Here is another tip. If you have some potatoes that grew those big long white sprouts under the sink (or where ever) You can pull those sprouts off, get rid of them, (do not waste time trying to get them to grow. They will never produce healthy robust plants.) set the potato on a windowsill for 2 to 6 weeks and it will grow healthy short green sprouts. That is Chitting and old potato and do not worry if it is a bit wrinkled. If it is really big with many sprouts You can cut it into one eye pieces and let the pieces cure for a day or two just before planting. I could literally write a book on growing potatoes LOL but this is enough for now. Hope this is helpful to some of you.

[@alicewilder8360]

This is such amazing wisdom! Since you're an expert-- any advice on growing potatoes in containers? I've tried twice to grow potatoes in a very large bin and each time got lots of green growth, I waited a few weeks after they died back and there were one or two small potatoes! It's so discouraging!

[@heatherk8931]

@@alicewilder8360 for planting in pots, watch Home Grown Veg, He is an expert and fun to learn from.😊❣

[@justpatty7328]

@@alicewilder8360 , I am not an expert just a grower.. I digress. I've found the soil is too high in nitrogen in the past when I get lots of greenery, but not produce. In addition, specifically for potatoes, I add a handful and scatter wood ash and sand to the soil. Good draining soil. Potatoes need a lot of sun here to produce. Not sure if the experts will agree on all points.. just in case they don't see your question, I added my pennies worth. Happy growing!

[@debbiewood7718]

I have a question about determint and indeterminate potatoes. I planted potatoes in a new fased bed and added soil throughout the season. I expected to ha e a stack of potatoes but they only grew at one layer. I later learned that there are determinate and I determinate potatoes. I have not found further information or been able to find out what are indeterminate varieties. Do you have insite to share Joanne?

[@evj1326]

@@debbiewood7718 There are no such things as indeterminate/determinate potatoes. I have worked in potatoes most of my life but cannot figure out the best way to word it. Since I am at a loss as to how to best explain it check out MI Gardener's video kzbin.info/www/bejne/fpKyk36OqJusf5I

[@charlenejutras1595]

I put the tiny sprout from the inside of celery into water into a sunny window, and eventually put into potting soil. the plant grew tally and went to seed in the heat of summer. I collected the seeds and planted them into containers this fall. The plants are really doing well- wish me luck!

[@HeyJordanRae]

Gah! I just love this

[@americaneden3090]

I've grown pepper plants from the mini multi colored peppers from our produce section.

[@littlelomaricafarm7302]

I do this as well with celery. The first year i used the leafy greens like you use parsley. It is very strongly celery flavored I am guessing it was the environment I live in, zone 9b. It is a great seasoning.

[@lawrencekeech2779]

I asked a local grocer for celery root he was about to toss that was drying out. Soaked it in water overnight and planted - Tons of celery!

[@mikelledavlin8806]

I did this as well, but I didn't collect the seeds the following year. It self-seeded and now I have dozens of celery plants that come up every year in my flower bed.

[@KAROZ888]

My fun thing to do is with the popping corn and raw peanuts ... Love growing PEANUTS!!! FUN!!!🕉️💖💖

[@catherinehenry6762]

I've grown potatoes, sweet potatoes, garbanzo beans, garlic Onions, squashes (butternut and Acorn) zucchinis, all kind of peppers, dried beans, lentils, tomatoes, buckwheat, rainbow corn (at Halloween) and right now I have 5 cute little lemon trees growing a window to be repotted in the spring. It is a lot of fun.

[@frances607]

I would LOVE to see a video of how you plant that ginger!!! And updates on how you care for it as it grows!!! 🙏🙏🙏😍😍😍😍

[@oppsyikesreally]

Me too!!!!!!!!!

[@emilyhughes9139]

I'm gonna try my ginger in a kiddie pool this year. I'm gonna drill some holes in the sides, a couple inches up from the bottom, so it will still hold a little water, but not be full. Fill up with soil and plant the ginger barely under the soil level. I'm gonna see what it'll do. I might try rice this way too if I can find it.

[@MsKscove]

Me too!

[@dianebrodeen3863]

I put the last few inches of grocery store green onions in a pot of soil in my kitchen window. This gives me several months of snipping green onions to add to my meals.

[@lilystabile3594]

We do this too-(we plant them out in the garden tho) scallions all year for 99 cents! 😊

[@charlenephillips1031]

I put a bunch in a cup of water and they grow fast but start to lose their bright green colors

[@kristicornwell6852]

I did this 3 years ago and I'm STILL cutting on the original ones. What a deal!

[@MT-bc6xf]

I grew Meyers lemon trees from a Meyers lemon and seeds. All 10 trees came up. Thrilled. Gave most away. People loved them. Potatoes... squash, omg... listen to this lady. It's possible and she is right. Heirloom is best...but non Heirloom works too.

[@Genesysgrl]

I grew some ginger from the store. I made a fresh snip and stuffed it in my raised bed and just watered everyday and it's in full sun. It's thriving and I love it 🥰

[@sarahrummy142]

We planted some black oil sunflower bird seed that we had a lot of and we got these beautiful small sunflowers that were great for cutting and had a pretty long vase life.

[@jlit1336]

Planted 1/4 acre of them one year. Gorgeous cut flowers and birds loved us.

[@lux3226]

When I first started gardening, I started with actual tomato seeds, bought from a seed packet. But, while waiting for them to grow, I still needed tomatoes, and got a pint of cherry tomatoes from the grocery store. Those were AMAZING, and I wished to grow them, too. After some preliminary searching on KZbin, I saw a video about how you could simply slice up rounds of a tomato, toss those rounds on some soil, lightly dust them with more soil, and let them do their thing. According to the video, those rounds would grow into tomato plants. It was enough to get me curious, I had some leftover soil from the seed tomatoes I'd planted, so I gave it a try. Took one of those wonderful storebought cherry tomatoes, sliced it into a few rounds, and tossed them in the soil. I was shocked to find, several days later, that I had a good dozen or so sprouts. I garden indoors (no outdoor space) so, after several more days, I picked out the biggest and strongest of those sprouts, and planted it. The tomatoes that came off that plant were not the same as the original pint I'd bought. But they were STILL some of the tastiest tomatoes ever. The plant itself was massive, healthy, disease free, and prolific. We had so many, my husband took them to work and his coworkers loved them, and asked for cuttings so they could grow their own clones. My plant cloned well, and they all grew their own, with equal success. My tomato plant kept producing and growing until the day I moved, which, sadly, ended its life. But that tomato plant lived for 2 years for me, and likely would've lived longer if I'd been able to keep it. I DO still have seeds saved from it, and may try growing them out to see what I end up with. Since then, I've given to regrowing a variety of storebought fruits and vegetables. I DO buy seeds (Baker's Creek has more than a little of my money, thanks to Jess xD), but I also love to maximize the output of all my produce. Green onions are ridiculously easy to grow, just leave an inch or two of the root bottom, stick it into a cup of water, put it on a windowsill, and you will see growth within half a day. Since I still have no outdoor space, with garlic and onion, I can't plant the bulbs, but, if I find any sprouting, I DO stick their root ends in water and harvest their greens for cooking. Garlic and onion chives are strong and intense, and a little goes a long way. Celery, you stick the bottom into a dish of water after chopping off the top portion of stems, and you can harvest celery greens. Same with lettuce, keep an inch or two on the the bottom, set it in a dish of water, and it will regrow new lettuce. Sweet potatoes gone to sprouting, I stick in water, and, while most just consider it a pretty plant, the leaves of a sweet potato ARE quite tasty and edible as a cooked green. I love being able to grow my own produce, but, in those times I simply can't grow something, I don't mind buying from the store, and then getting the most I can out of them. My theory has always been, it you're going to have to throw it out anyway, why NOT try and see if it will grow? You lose nothing if it fails, you gain so much if it succeeds. It's one of life's few no lose situations, all it takes is a willingness to give it a try.

[@mariaavery5004]

What did you do so your tomatoes plant grew in your house and were able to keep it for two years?

[@suzannehartmann946]

MANY fruits and vegetables sold in grocery stores are hybrids so you will not get from the seeds what you bought at the store. But you will get something!

[@Emeraldwitch30]

I grew out the white bottoms ftom store bought green onions as I wanted them to winter over and seed the next year. This is their 3rd winter and the last 2 summers those free green onions have given me more seed and green scallions than I've ever bought. 3 of the plants actually throw out little green onions from the flower too. Like my walking onions. The flavor is nice and fine. Onion seed from those particular plants also make flower heads that throw out little green onions too. Ive been trying to get enough to make their own section in my garden. Very mild onion flavor and prolific. Oh I grow the seed mainly for making sprouts in winter. Onion seed for sprouts us $38 to $50 a pound for sprouting, but its so yummy on a sandwich with alfalfa and radish. My favorite "I grew it from a seed" plant is my little, one year old at Christmas, lil cutie clementine orange tree lol. The leaves smell nice like orange blossoms even. Maybe 7 years from now I'll get a lil cutie clementine from it. Lol But when your 9 year old grandson says look gramma a huge seed! Can we plant it? What else could I do lol.

[@kingscairn]

Those sprouts on the sweet potatoes are called ' SLIPS ' - you carefully break those from the potato ( mother ) , put them in water until ' rooted ' then plant them in the ground - viola , you will get sweet potatoes - you can plant the ' mother ' and or the slips directly into soil - garden bed or bucket of soil in your house or balcony but you may want the glass jar process to see what would be happening underground and time it takes

[@kingscairn]

@@suzannehartmann946 I planted from 4 peach pits got 4 trees - 2 of which resembled willow trees that never fruited, cut down - the other 2 were peach but with small fruits - not cut down yet but will be

[@klotzhomestead8492]

I love this video! So many misconceptions out there. Also, I couldn’t find seed potatoes, so I took a chance on Walmart cheapo potatoes one year🤣 I can tell you that Walmart reds and Yukon potatoes absolutely grow beautifully. I planted them a few years ago and I’m still using the same seed potatoes. Same with sweet potatoes!

[@lisabb5624]

I grew walmart potatoes too :)

[@callowayproductsllc4877]

My whole small garden this past spring was from seeds I save from my organic produce from my local whole food store during the pandemic. In a panic, I save every organic fruit/vegetable seed that came through the door. I basically removed the seeds, rinsed them, and allowed them to air dry on a paper plate or napkin. Then, labeled them up in little seed bags purchased from Amazon. I grew cantaloupe, cucumbers, mini sweet peppers, regular sized bell pepper, and tomatoes. I still have quite the seed collection of fruits and vegetables. I plan to experiment with the fruit tree seeds (i.e., apples, pears, and peach seeds) this year with my grand daughter in an effort to teach her how to be self-suffiecint. Love the video, and thanks for sharing. 😉

[@connieellis925]

When I was in Florida visiting daughter buys organic tomatoes, an had some called Kumato tomato, I saved seeds from 1 an dried them for about a month planted it an put on my grow tent tookb2 weeks to germinate but I just ate my first Kumato tomato it was delicious 😋

[@veracsimmons]

I saved kumato seeds this year as well. I hope I have the same luck🤞🏾

[@connieellis925]

@@veracsimmons they weren't as big but they tasted just like the ones I had at daughters. They will take 2 weeks or more because I thought they weren't going to germinate an looked 1 day an they popped up, just about through them away. I keep the tent between 75 to 80. So will see what happens when I start more seeds to put in garden. Good luck

[@alicecowan3499]

Awesome!

[@irmibullinger1421]

I grew Kumato tomatoes from seed from store tomatoes as well (a couple of years ago) I need to do that again because they are delicious and cost a fortune at the store

[@YesStefinitely]

Kumatos are my favorite!!!

[@pamarabenton9039]

I have 2 beautiful lemon trees, that I grew from store bought lemons. I grew a couple of avocado trees from store bought avocados.

[@oppsyikesreally]

You just gave me excitement and lots of hope for my lemon seeds. Thank you

[@carolynsteele5116]

I saved seed from the biggest, most gorgeous red, yellow and orange peppers from the store and grew gorgeous red, yellow and orange peppers. Also had great luck regrowing seed from the small 3” peppers from Costco. Great success also with store bought butternut squash, potatoes, garlic. Bought a big watermelon in June and my kids spit a seed into the well-composted flower bed, and grew a giant, delicious watermelon the same season!

[@jennifersuzanne5678]

It's fun that I come across this video months later. In March 2022 (or so), I was cutting up a store-bought hot house tomato and got the idea to toss a slice of it into a tub of potting soil where my herbs had been just outside my patio door. With dinner on the stove, I just walked out and buried it, watered it in, and left it alone. I'm so impressed that it actually grew and I transplanted it into my first in-ground vegetable garden. It's June and it has blooms on it. I have no idea what I'll end up with or if it will be good, but that just goes to show you that a store-bought vegetable can absolutely be cultivated to make more food. Green onions are my favorite. I don't seed them. I just pick up a bundle at the store while I'm out.

[@mariahjuhl702]

I never thought of the spice isle! That's brilliant! I discovered pinto beans grew well when my 3 year old pushed the pinto beans I gave her to play with as a sensory activity into the soil of my started plants and they grew wonderfully!😂🌻

[@HeyJordanRae]

That blew my mind too. Like, how did I not think of that? 😅

[@angeliquemcniff3076]

Last year I experimented. I took 10 of every bean in my cupboard from the grocery store -9 varieties. My average was 8.2 beans sprouted per variety and I learned which were bush (7/9) and which were pole (2/9). Package would just say something like “small white beans” so now I know which is which. I planted them and let them run their course, not eating anything, and just saved the seeds for this year as they are now acclimated to my climate for 1 generation. I saved about 90% of the resulting seeds. I now have an average of 147 seeds of each variety (I planted them as the last planting of the year so they grew in extreme California drought!). So, now I can plant what I want, knowing which are bush and which are pole, of the varieties that I want. Will I grow pinto? No. Too easy to get and too cheap. Will I grow the Christmas Lima (pole) and the small pink (yes!). YES, YES, YES! It is good to experiment and try. We did the same with mini pumpkins - success! - and coriander, and dill. Funny you mentioned those too!

[@TrixieJFerguson]

While it took about 4 years … I have harvested three pineapples from a store-bought pineapple top (and the pups from the original plant). They are SO sweet and juicy and delicious!

[@jen_ockert70]

I harvested grape tomato seeds from a Dominos pizza salad. My friend took one of the plants I grew from it & they were the biggest grape tomatoes I ever saw🙂 I planted one of them in my patio garden & it did well too, though not as big.

[@TalkingThreadsMedia]

Hi, Jess. Yes, I have grown quite a few things over the years that were purchased from the grocery store. My first exposure to this concept was back in 1966. Dad bought a couple bags of long-grain, wild rice from the grocery store and spread the seeds in the swamp (along the shore line) that was on the back end of our property. When the time came for harvest, we used the canoe. It worked so well, that we grew long grain wild rice every year thereafter - until the house was sold in the late 70’s. You have water on your new property, so planting along the shore line might be an option for your family. Anyway, YES, there are many things that can be grown from what you buy at the grocery store. Don’t forget caraway and anise - wonderful flavorings for many dishes, including bread!

[@lawrencekeech2779]

Ohhhh I am trying this. I have a small swamp/stand of water behind my house.

[@TalkingThreadsMedia]

Lawrence - that is wonderful! I wish you every success - and thank you for sharing!

[@ooohlaa13]

who knew? Love.

[@jeannamaynard5037]

I sprouted an Avacado tree from a seed from the grocery store. It's about two years old now. Still anticipating what the fruit will be like. If not good, I can still use it as a root stock and graph better types to it.

[@WhatDadIsUpTo]

Sprouting Slips Trick: Use dark green glass bottles, like left over prescription bottles. The roots come on three times faster than with clear, colorless glass. Also, onion and celery root ends can be rooted in water, then transplanted to soil, producing one or more new plants. I "store" store-bought bunching onions (scallions) by planting them in soil as soon as I get home from the grocery store and harvesting one or more as I prepare food, always having fresh onions! 😊

[@sweetpeasbackyardgarden1236]

I normally just listen and don't comment. But, because you asked I feel obligated lol. I have grown a number of items from the grocery store. White and sweet potatoes, green onions, garlic, and ginger. I haven't had any issues. I always appreciate your expressions about the importance of experimentation. Experimentation sets my expectations.

[@thegoddessandthegeekhomest2880]

Such great information!! I remember when I was like 20 and with my first husband who is Hispanic, he came in the kitchen one day asking where I kept the dried beans. I was confused and asked why. He’s like I’m planting the garden. I didn’t believe he could plant those beans and get them to grow but he did. I learned something that day lol. We were very poor and back then (30 years ago)…there was no such thing as organic that I knew of anyway lol so we had the cheapest store brand beans out there! But they grew and we ate them 😊💚

[@andrewhammill6148]

I have grown pretty much every herb in the past from the grocery store. I have a sage plant and a thyme plant that are over 5 years old that came from a store. I have also grown potatoes from the grocery store. But those are hit and miss. Usually when I do the taters, it's just because I let them go and the eyes started popping up. So, I planted them as an experiment. I experiment all the time with this stuff.

[@jessicarendon2763]

I found a sack of red potatoes in the back of my pantry. I shrugged, tossed them in the dirt, and they were amazing! Great success 👍

[@fireflyfarmletontheeno777]

I had a (store bought) butternut squash grow out of the compost one year. We decided to allow it to grow where ever and ended up with 30 squash from one plant. Love those volunteers! 🥰

[@xiaoqiaoxie]

I planted five stalks of store-bought green onion in my in-ground garden one summer. I was able to crop the leaves every week for cooking. They did grow big and their stems and leaves looked like those on a regular yellow onion. The leaves tasted a bit more spicy and were not as tender, but worked very well with authentic Chinese cooking. What I did not expect is that I was able to harvest onion bulbs from them. I stopped watering and checking on them after frost had killed the top (zone 5b). Coming around Christmas, when we needed just one more onion for cooking, I dug them up and we got four full-size yellow onions. The fifth stalk produced no bulb. My take on growing store-bought onion/ginger/garlic/bok choy/potato/sweet potato is that if I have something going bad in the fridge, I bury them in the garden. Not successful every time, but there is nothing to lose.

[@birinehart]

I planted the green onions roots and a bit a white stalk and have had green onions for over a year from this planting. Can’t beat this free and readily available green onions. It’s a plant that never stops giving.

[@mycomagic]

I cut the roots off of store bought green onions and plant them in a pot on my window sill. They produce green onions for all kinds of things, endlessly. I just don't pull them up and remove the roots. I did the same thing with my leeks and over the summer they produced flower stalks so I not only had leek bulbs for the next year but leek leaves for the rest of the summer from those I did not let flower..

[@nancyobrien2854]

I have taken the white root area of a green onion and put in a small jar full of water and left it on my kitchen windowsill. Within a few days it started growing. I did this as an experiment. Eventually I planted it and several more in cinder block holes that I filled with the soil looking stuff that you would find if you went to the woods and raked away the leaves. They are still growing well after 5 years. I plant 4 bulbs per hole. I seem to be on the line of Zone 7b/8a. I know this because I moved 5 years ago (10 miles south) and had checked my zone online at old address and was told 7b. I have more room to garden here, so I was looking online to figure out what I wanted to add to my garden. While I was browsing around, I discovered my zone was now 8a. Not much of a difference, but 8a does seem to offer a few new plants.

[@Annixandra]

if it was at one time growing it will decompose and give nutrients back to the garden or it will grow the worst you can do is try and end up with nothing but better soil

[@jongrubaugh160]

I heard very recently that that can happen.

[@theladysgardenandhome]

I had no choice during the great seed shortage of 2020 to save seeds and regrow vegetables from the grocery store. My cherry tomatoes were different shapes, but still tasted wonderful. This year the store potatoes yielded way more of a harvest than the seed potatoes I ordered. So, yes, in times of seed shortages, it can be done!

[@HeyJordanRae]

I love the thought of telling kids 15 years from now about “the great seed shortage of 2020” lol

[@Vanessa-qk3df]

I haven’t read all the comments, but I am curious if anyone has tried to plant seeds from store-bought strawberries or blueberries. Your videos are SO informative, Jess! Thanks!

[@crizzyjj]

I bought lemon grass from the store and stuck it into a large pot out back. In one season it filled the whole pot and was almost impossible to get out. If you plant it, be ready for it to take over.

[@loriworkman5127]

What do you use lemon grass for??

[@crizzyjj]

@@loriworkman5127 Curry, stew, tea, and lots of recipes online. It's also supposed to be a mosquito repellant in the garden, seems to work too.

[@julianosilva6862]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do more videos of this nature. I know it can be repetitive and too much information for those that are more advanced and I would just ask you to skip over these videos but for those of us that are just getting started the wealth of information and knowledge that I just got from this one video alone is very encouraging. Jess, wow thank you and God bless you!

[@rbthegardennannyllc4219]

I've grown eyes from potatoes last year matter-of-fact -- I'm sure it wasn't organic. I love your Aunt Martha -- pull the seeds from a pepper in a salad at a restaurant. LOVE IT! Deadheading plants everywhere -- hahhaahhahahahahhahaha!!!! I knew I was going to learn a lot from this video.

[@ladyemerygizer]

There are these beautiful flowers I saw..... 😆 Yep, gonna do it.

[@ManufacturedCrises]

Ikr I’m going to be looking everywhere for free seeds now 😂

[@nancyfaircloth3224]

I thought the same thing. I bet Aunt Martha grew up in hard times.

[@rbthegardennannyllc4219]

@@ladyemerygizer 😁😁😁

[@rbthegardennannyllc4219]

@@ManufacturedCrises I'm with you --- why not???!!!!

[@patz780]

May I just say, I love your spontaneous, self produced videos. I realize that filming Wilder Still frees you and Miah from the mechanics of production and is more freeing, but for me that isn’t the “real” you. “You” are the spontaneous laugh, the loving exchanges with Miah and the kids, the “this is what I found” moments…I could go on and on. I am happy that you have both venues but my heart is always happy when a daily vlog appears. I can’t wait to see each step as the farm evolves (or should I say explodes) as you build your dream.

[@scothancock2586]

My dad told me a few years ago, that my mom & him planted pinto beans one year and they had one of their best crop of beans ever.

[@aazmonster]

I grow lettuce from lettuce butts all the time! I just stick the butts into a shallow bowl or a little mug, then fill it up with enough water to keep the bottom part wet and the top part dry. So much abundance around us!

[@okiejammer2736]

Wheels are SURE spinning in my Gardener Brain. Thank you! I have dead-headed dried seed heads while walking at parks and even reached out to dead-head tall plants at fast food drive-thru's to save the seeds in envelopes. Wow!

[@joanmccreless5979]

I would have to say I'm like your aunt...about 7 years ago I started seeing all the seeds that were being thrown away in the produce at the local grocery store....so one day I talked to the produce manager and she started letting me have all the old produce being thrown away that had seeds....Boy I was in heaven....I had seeds drying everywhere....I never had any seeds that didn't grow...I had tomato seeds and plants like crazy...pepper..squash..melons eventually a new manager came to town and he stopped it....but I still have seeds from that and give them to anyone who wants them...it was fun and actually helped a lot of people

[@punkin4061]

My mom would go to fruit stands around our little town and buy her fruits and veggies that's how we got our seeds she would save them because she couldn't afford buying from stores she always had the most amazing garden💙

[@christinej2358]

I bought a bag of those small red, yellow and orange peppers from Walmart grocery and decided to harvest the seeds. A friend told me they are called pocket peppers. I planted them and about 10 of the seeds grew. They produced beautiful red, yellow and orange peppers. Now they took all summer and into the fall before they turned their colors, but they produced abundantly. I canned, froze, ate and gave fresh to family and friends because they produced so many. I also harvest sweet green pepper seeds, and they grew, but were very small in size. Today, I just harvested seeds from a giant sweet green pepper to save in hopes it will grow in this years garden. Thank you for sharing the information about seeds!

[@dlapsyc]

Those little peppers are amazing! I harvested so many doing the same thing from the same place. :)

[@kristinestanden6850]

I saved my green pepper plants , to restart next yr, that way they have a big head start. You can save pieces of tomato steams for starts for following year too. Just bring them in during cold winter months.

[@midsouthhomestead7527]

I am doing it this year. I have mine in grow bags. They still have tons of peppers on them. I did this with a volunteer tomato last year. It is still alive and has 4 tomatoes on it.

[@DracoTriste]

I’ve grown gorgeous purple stemmed basil from the sprigs included in carry-out pho! Managed to get a couple generations of fragrant, delicious basil from one dinner. So check sources of food other than the grocery store too!

[@trueblonde316]

Omg I never thought of that. I always wonder what kind it is because it looks so different than anything we have available.

[@DracoTriste]

@@trueblonde316 it tastes different from the typical grocery store variety. I think it’s Thai Basil- or at least that seems to be the one my pho spots typical have. The plants I’ve raised from those cuttings have lived a long time, even over wintering and coming back bigger in the spring (I’m in zone 8/9, so that probably had something to do with it too). The bees loved the flowers and gave me lots of seeds to share and save for future seasons.

[@HeyJordanRae]

Why is this the most bad-ass thing I’ve heard in a while? 😅

[@trueblonde316]

@dracotriste Do you just propagate in water like she mentioned in the video?

[@DracoTriste]

@@trueblonde316 yes. I immediately picked off the lower, larger leaves (and ate them) leaving the youngest, smallest leaves at the top. If the ends of the stems seemed a little dried or shriveled I used very sharp scissors and cut them at an angle. Then I left them in the kitchen window in a glass of water and watched the roots grow. When the roots were long and strong, I planted them in my garden. Not every single stem grew roots, but most of them did, and I would usually get a minimum of 3 in an order of pho, so I usually got a new basil plant every time I got pho.

[@MarysNest]

Hi Jess, What a great video! I did exactly what you said and grabbed my morning coffee and settled in for a wonderful teaching lesson! And I learned so much from your “class”! Thank you for all this very valuable information that can help us all be more self-sufficient and well prepared by making use of all our options and not just relying on packaged seeds. Love, Mary

[@maryclemens1046]

Me too!!! ☮💫🌱💜

[@RootsandRefugeFarm]

I just got so tickled to see your comment! I love your channel!

[@MsTexan1]

Two of my favorite content creators communicating. 💗

[@rivkamarkowitz339]

Hi Jess. U r so right. Last winter i planted black eyed peas (cowpeas) from store pkg. By summer it was like jack n the bean stock outside. The way the fresh beans present themselves for picking is amazing.

[@seedaholicgardens9085]

AMEN!❤❤

[@gailostler7871]

I stumbled across a video on how to grow a lemon tree from a store bought lemon. Just for laughs I bought one, organic and followed the instructions on the video. Out of 3 seeds from that lemon 2 germinated. I gave one to my neighbour and have the other on my kitchen window sill at the moment as it’s still quite small. It’s growing well though.

[@LLAMA-LLAMA]

Coffee…✔️ Notebook…✔️ I LOVE this!! Thank you! I’m actually from just west of Gilroy, CA (garlic capital) and if you ever want to try some garlic ice cream, they even sell it at the antique stores (and it’s actually really good!). I’ve only heard from one person about the garlic from overseas not growing, however that was because supposedly they’re required to remove the root part at the bottom before importing. This year I spent about $35 on “fancy” seed garlic and it was the store bought from my counter that sprouted first😁, and it wasn’t even organic. I threw some organic ginger in late last summer just to see if it’d grow…it did! This year I’ll be putting it out much sooner as well as turmeric. I really want to get into making my own tea. Thank you for being the person that lit a fuse under me to start experimenting! Ever since I heard you explain how to guarantee no sprouts if you don’t plant the seed, my life completely changed🤣 and no I’m not exaggerating. This last year my garden obsession exploded(your fault…thank you again)! 4 Greenstalks, 2 additional raised beds and a cattle panel greenhouse all since May😬(in my defense, my husband bought them for me). Just a couple of days ago I snuck an aloe plant in the shopping cart and my Husband’s response was “what’s that!? Another plant!? Na uh” me: “it’s medicinal😬”… it’s on top of the fridge in a sunny window😂. Every single place we go I always think how I may be able to use something for the garden(no kidding, I got Giant s’more sticks on clearance for plant stakes🤦‍♀️). Thank you again for always inspiring us to look outside the box!

[@vickiblizzard1001]

OMG! I knew I could plant dried beans and grow plants with them, but I never associated that with my beloved dried green flageolet beans, which are ridiculously expensive to purchase! I'm very excited to experiment with this during the summer!

[@stephaniemontero2071]

Thank you for everything you said. I have transplanted many and harvested seeds from the produce from the grocery store and never had a problem. Everything has grown as natural intended and with zero problems so I call bull and the wives tale.

[@SuperKatiki]

I'll never forget the volunteer "pumpkin" that grew in my garden one year. It produced exactly one fruit. It was round like a pumpkin, had skin like a spaghetti squash, and insides like a loofa. Even the squirrels (who typically ravage any pumpkin left outside past October) wouldn't touch it, lol. I think it was a cross between a pumpkin and zucchini I had grown the year before. I've grown garlic from local farmer's stands (I figured if they grew well for local farmers they would grow well for me) and before I knew where to find heirloom tomato seeds I would pick up "fancy" tomatoes at farmers markets to save seeds from. I still grow multiple tomatoes plants every year from those seeds (or their offspring's seeds). One summer I grew canary melon from the seeds of one I bought at a local fruit farm. All that original produce cost a bit more than I would normally pay at the grocery store, but it was like a two for one: I got food to eat immediately and grew more food from it the following year.

[@arkrosebud1540]

Jess, thanks so much for sharing your knowledge. I found you guys about two years ago when looking for help on best things for beginners to grow. I experimented with several different veggies and herbs to see what worked best for me. We have very similar climates. I am close to Texas coast line. It’s a lot of hard work for an older gal, but was worth the effort and was very therapeutic for me. Also I was so pleased that you minister and I truly believe that God put you on my path for a reason. Because of you I have found the hope I had lost. Thanks so much for your sweet heart. I pray our Father continues to bless you and your beautiful family.

[@shellieh685]

So true! Amen♥

[@RaisingRoosters123]

I have done this for years, it's nice to see my crazy ideas validated by someone else :) I always save seeds from produce that I buy at the store and farmers market! I have also thrown store bought potatoes, ginger and lettuce bottoms into the dirt and grow stuff! Oh, and I also bought a huge bag of garlic from Costco and planted the whole thing and it all came up!

[@nikkibrodbeck2322]

We started a gourmet garlic farm during the COVID shutdown because we watched documentaries about the nasty conditions it's grown in. We are still getting our stock up then we will reach out to markets, restaurants, set up at farmers market and sell online.

[@kiki29073]

Yep. It works. Onions, garlic, potato's, sweet potato's, leeks, chives, tomatoes, apples, mango and papaya. Also celery, some lettuce varieties, brussel sprouts, fresh herbs, different melons, different peppers. Squashes too. Beans and peas. Never did the popcorn though.

[@beautyforashes2230]

I've done a lot of experiments like this! Or I'll re-grow vegetables. For example when my celery isn't mature enough to harvest yet and I buy a bunch from the store, I'll save the stump, put it into a little water and grow a whole new plant. I also discovered that when I harvest early cabbages in the garden and only remove the head, leaving the roots and outer leaves in the ground, it'll grow a whole new head. A smaller one than the first head, but hey - free food! Also if supermarket onions or garlic start to sprout, I'll plant them into the ground for delicious onion and garlic greens. Besides potatoes and sweet potatoes, store-bought Jerusalem artichokes are also easy tubers to grow and cost a lot less than "seed" tubers. When my grandmother lived and was younger, she'd bury the pits of store-bought peaches she ate into the soil on the off-chance one would sprout, and grew two peach trees that way (I have her garden now and still find this or that ancient peach pit in the soil, haha).

[@amandar7719]

I love J-artichokes but found it so tiresome digging them up during cold damp heavy soil winters. Then spending time washing and scrubbing the knobbly tubers. They became one of the few vegetables I bought ready scrubbed from farm shops until a few years ago. I noticed a few large and smooth skinned GAs amongst a large box at the farm shop and decided to plant them in large containers half submerged in two feet of woodchips - to help prevent the containers tipping up in the wind and never having to water them. Well blow me down, I now rummage around the container soil and harvest as many fresh, large and smooth skinned, easy to clean GAs as I need to roast with pheasant or make sweet nutty flavored soup…… friends and family only, of course. 😳 💨🌬💨🌬🥴😂

[@oppsyikesreally]

How lovely! I will. Try to grow Jerusalem Artichokes and your lettuce hack. Thanks!

[@beautyforashes2230]

@@amandar7719 That is cool! I'm going to have to keep a lookout to see if I can find smoother ones at some point.

[@beautyforashes2230]

@@oppsyikesreally You're welcome! That was a cabbage hack actually, but with lettuce I just harvest the outer leaves and the rest grows on, so it's like lettuce on tap (same with spinach). At least until it bolts at some point. :)

[@anitamurphy2454]

I grew a row of black eyed peas from the grocery store in my little "classroom" trial garden in crappy soil before we got our raised bed gardens in place. They grew better than almost anything I planted from actual bought "seeds".

[@TheNakidGardeners]

We done the same thing

[@paigerichards3749]

I tried the black eyed peas and I was so excited ..till I found out what was growing was plants that were poisonous (won't use that garden soil place again)! Next year will try again. Need to get some cattle panels for peas and beans.

[@wgspinto1]

One day...maybe cover starting the plants from cutting off bottom roots bought from grocery store... like from onions, especially green ones, big onions, celery. I have done it. Works fabulous. Love your farm

[@OICUR12]

I have a mango tree, avocado tree, pineapples, celery, jalapenos, cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, and lettuce growing beautifully right now. All from the store version. I plan to get some spices going next. It's great fun.

[@HausofEbon]

I teach my students that you can easily grow food from the grocery store. Of course, the produce grown may not always turn out as the parent seeds, however, it'll still be edible produce that can feed you and your family. My students and I have grown ginger, garlic and butternut squash from the grocery store.

[@IreneNevins]

I plant a few corn kernels around fence posts or in pots for the purpose of decorating for fall. Lots cheaper than buying corn stalks plus you get corn, Indian corn or popcorn to boot.

[@connieagnes7480]

I've grown garlic, potatoes, (red, russet and Yukon), sweet potatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, green onion all from the grocery. I've also rooted the end of celery, romaine lettuce, top of pineapple and planted them. ❤ No problems.

[@ESJohnson14]

I've grown several rounds of potatoes from my store bought potatoes that I didn't use quickly enough and sprouted. It's easy enough to dig a hole and stick it in there. It's really so easy I wish I had known sooner. I also accidentally grew basil from clippings when keeping them in water for a couple days after picking from a plant in my garden. It's really amazing how many things will just grow on accident, especially keeping in mind how many things I actually end up killing when I try to keep it alive.

[@donnamcmanus7360]

I've saved seeds from red, yellow and orange peppers from the grocery store & they were fine. I've potted up celery bottoms & although I didn't get stalks per se, the leafy thin stems were great for soups, stews, green & tuna/chicken salads & meatloaf. Tons of celery flavor in those leaves. I'm an opportunistic seed collector too. I got some gorgeous celosia seeds from the McDonald's drive thru landscaping. Heck, I grew a big pot of moss roses/portulaca from a fifty cent seed pack & collected seeds all season like it was my job. I ended up with a half full quart size ziplock bag which is saying something because those seeds are teensy. My gardening buddy neighbor lady thought I was nuts out on the sidewalk with my tweezers, paper plate and flowerpot😄

[@justpatty7328]

❤ this!

[@tashap5144]

Portulaca seeds are my favorite to get off the plant. It's so fun! Half a quart bag is A LOT 😁