--- title: 5 Foods You Can Grow From Scraps at Home description: These 5 plants are easy to grow in your backyard and will help you spend less money on produce at the grocery store. canonical: https://time.com/4761908/foods-grow-home/ author: Cooking Light article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-01T18:14:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:41:12.635Z article:section: Health og:title: 5 Foods You Can Grow From Scraps at Home og:description: All you need is some sunshine and water og:url: https://time.com/4761908/foods-grow-home/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt29fe160518883ee6/6988720f3c1639064a45ad3e/50-healthiest-foods-basil.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: healthiest foods, health food, diet, nutrition, time.com stock, basil, herb og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 5 Foods You Can Grow From Scraps at Home twitter:description: All you need is some sunshine and water twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt29fe160518883ee6/6988720f3c1639064a45ad3e/50-healthiest-foods-basil.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 5 Foods You Can Grow From Scraps at Home by [Matthew A. Moore / Cooking Light](/author/cooking-light/) ## Matthew A. Moore / Cooking Light May 1, 2017 6:14 PM CUT  Danny Kim for TIME by [Matthew A. Moore / Cooking Light](/author/cooking-light/) ## Matthew A. Moore / Cooking Light May 1, 2017 6:14 PM CUT Some folks might think that growing vegetables and herbs is a difficult task, but we’re here to let you know it’s pretty easy. All you need is some water, sunshine, and bits and pieces of your favorite produce. Trust me—I’m no expert, but I have four of the five plants listed below growing in my backyard. If I can do it, you can, too! So clean out your fridge’s produce drawer, and plant up some pots with these 5 easy-to-grow edibles. ## Basil Plant up this aromatic herb and then grab some fresh Mozzarella and pizza dough from your local grocer to make a divine Margherita pizza. Just take your unused pieces of basil (make sure the stem is intact) and stick them in a glass of water in a spot that gets plenty of sunlight. After the roots have grown a bit—about 1 1/2 to 2 inches), it’s time to plant them in a pot. You’ll have a big basil bush in no time. ## Onion I use this kitchen staple in almost every recipe, so why not grow it at home? Oh, the money I’d save! To grow your own onions, just cut off the bottom portion of an onion (make sure the roots are still intact), preferably leaving up to around 2 inches of the onion attached. Let that piece dry for hours or a couple days—depending on how quickly it dries, and once it’s calloused, plant that portion roots down, and then cover about 1 to 2 inches of soil. Give it some water, put it in some sunshine, and take it out of the pot once leaves start sprouting. There might be more than one plant growing from the bottom, so separate those, and replant in a larger container or bed. Then it’s sunshine, water, repeat. Boom! Homegrown onions. **MORE:** [100 Super Healthy and Filling Foods](http://time.com/4654035/100-super-healthy-and-filling-foods/ "undefined") ## Rosemary Once you get rosemary started, you’ll have a giant bush to pick from before you know it. And it’s also incredibly simple to grow—just take a 2 to 3 inch stalk of rosemary and place in water. Once it starts sprouting roots, plant it up. Then, you know the drill—sunshine and water, until it tries to take over your yard or garden. ## Cilantro See basil above. You can grow a nice, hearty cilantro plant by following those same steps. ## Peppers This one’s so easy you’ll consider quitting your day job to become a pepper farmer. You know all those seeds in the middle of your pepper? Take them out and put them in some soil that’s got direct sunlight. Add some water, maybe hum it a song and wait on your harvest to arrive. Instead of spending an arm and a leg on grocery store produce, get your Johnny Appleseed on and plant the earth. Your wilting produce—and your pocketbook—will thank you. _This_ [_article_](http://www.cookinglight.com/budget-friendly/vegetable-plants-you-can-regrow "undefined") _originally appeared on CookingLight.com_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4761908/foods-grow-home/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4761908/foods-grow-home/"},"headline":"5 Foods You Can Grow From Scraps at Home","datePublished":"2017-05-01T18:14:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:41:12.635Z","description":"These 5 plants are easy to grow in your backyard and will help you spend less money on produce at the grocery store.","url":"https://time.com/4761908/foods-grow-home/","keywords":["Diet & Nutrition","Food & Drink","plants"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt29fe160518883ee6/6988720f3c1639064a45ad3e/50-healthiest-foods-basil.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Matthew A. 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