Home cook cracks the code for never-ending onions without a garden: 'Super easy'

A home cook has shared a simple trick that will give you an endless supply of scallions for free. Here's how. 

The scoop

A home cook, known as Optimistic Kitchen (@optimistickitchen), posted a video on TikTok explaining how to grow an endless supply of scallions, and all you need is a bunch of scallions and a pot.

@optimistickitchen Using this method to regrow your scallions can give you unlimited scallions!🥰💚 #OptimisticKitchen #gardening #pottedgarden #makeyourkitchenyourhappyplace #Healthy #ReduceFoodWaste #Garden #GrowFood #Thrive #growyourfood #growfood #victorygarden #ScrapGarden #GrowFromScraps #growyourscraps #scallions #scallionhack #budgetfriendly #foodbudget #series #scrapgardenseries #kitchenscrapgarden #creatorsearchinsights ♬ original sound - Optimistic Kitchen

In the video, the kitchen enthusiast explains that you can grow lots of food from scraps, and their first example in their kitchen scraps series focuses on scallions. All you need to do is save the bottom inch or inch-and-a-half of the onion and put it in a jar of water in the sun. It's important that the water is changed every day to prevent them from rotting. 

After a day or two, the scallions should start to sprout. They can then be transported to a pot or put in the ground in your garden. You can keep harvesting the top of them and allowing them to regrow, giving you an endless supply of the plants. If you leave them long enough, they might even sprout flowers, which are also edible. 

How it's helping

Hacks like these are great for helping you to grow food easily for free, saving you money on your grocery bills while also giving you access to healthy produce that is grown at home without harmful pesticides. 

According to Sustain, researchers in the U.K. have shown that people who grow their own food are more likely to eat more fruit and vegetables, getting well above the recommended daily average. 

Additionally, the same study showed that people who grow their own food produce 95% less food waste than those who don't. Reducing food waste sent to landfills is one of the best things we can do for the planet, because food and everything else sent to trash heaps will produce a lot of harmful heat-trapping pollution as it all rots.

Too Good To Go is a great organization that is also trying to help divert food from landfills by partnering with restaurants and grocery stores to offer customers half-price bags of food that would have otherwise been thrown away. 

What everyone's saying

The post received over 3,000 likes and a lot of comments from people who couldn't wait to try out the hack. 

"I'm so excited I went grocery shopping yesterday and today I am officially starting my scrap garden," wrote one commenter. 

What is the biggest reason you don't grow food at home? Not enough time ⏳ Not enough space 🤏 It seems too hard 😬 I have a garden already 😎 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

Another shared their experience with scallions, writing, "I don't even save that much! Like it's a smidge of white showing in the smallest of water and they grow! Super easy!"

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