URBAN GARDENER: Could this possibly lead to a sustainable garden on my window sill?

Planting the root ends of five green onions, after chopping the upper stalks for a salad, worked very well

Not All My Gardening Experiments turn out successfully but the test project on re-growing green onions actually produced a crop.

Now that’s stretching it a bit but planting the root ends of five green onions, after chopping the upper stalks for a salad, worked very well. I planted the root ends in a small pot and covered them very lightly with damp soil.

The pot was placed on my north facing kitchen sill. Two weeks later each bulb had produced a 12 inch long bright green stalk and they were ready to be “harvested.”

This meant snipping the greens just below where the stalks turn white.  The roots have been left in the pot to see if it’s possible to regrow a second crop.  At this point the new growth doesn’t appear as robust as my first trial.

Stumbling across this website  on regrowing onions will possibly lead to my planting a couple of dozen green onions roots.  Could this possibly lead to sustainable farming on my window sill!

In Line With This Experiment is another  project underway which I referred to in a previous column.  My two small turnips are sitting upright in a pot on a south facing window and partially covered in compost. They are now producing a regular growth of crisp greens.The leaves have a slightly stringent taste, like spicy mustard and add a nice edge to a plain winter salad. It would be a good idea to add a few more turnips to the pot  to increase the leaves available.

Thanks To The Efforts Of North Island College for leading the way in providing workshops for the ever increasing number of residents who are interested in veggie gardening and farming. In the next six weeks there is a great selection of workshops including Farming For Profit, Natural Pest Management, Intro To Permaculture, Edible Landscaping, Pruning and Planning  & Designing Your Veggie Garden.

Campbell River Mirror