Start Your Own Home Garden – Even on Your Windowsill

In the ‘40s, there were Victory Gardens, which encouraged Americans to help the wartime rationing effort by growing their own food. Victory Gardens also created a sense of community as people worked together for a greater good. Well, now we’re back to working together to flatten the COVID-19 curve, save lives and not overwhelm our hospitals and essential workers. This is the perfect time to take a hard look at how you can regrow your green thumb and raise your own fresh, organic, healthy vegetables with a home garden.  

Regrow Your Kitchen Scraps
Munching your way through your last grocery store order? Those scraps you might have just thrown away can be regrown and used again and again. All you need is a glass of water, some toothpicks, and a sunny spot to restart vegetables like potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, lettuce and more! Click here for instructions from RuralSprout on how to start a scraps garden.

And check out one of our favorite articles from the Spafinder archives, “How to Plant an Herb Garden–Right in Your Kitchen Window.”

And Speaking of Scraps…
It’s time to channel your depression era grandma and start scrimping and saving. Drop your carrot peels, onion peels, and extra herbs along with your old chicken bones into the freezer and get cracking on making your healthy chicken stock.

Or invest in a worm composter and start composting your scraps from the comfort of your own kitchen. Those worm compost bins are great for apartment living and create an excellent “tea” for your plants to grow and thrive (not to mention the end product being healthy, nutrient rich soil).

Get into Hydroponics
Hydroponics might sound like a great name for a funk band, but it’s actually a type of gardening that uses perfectly pH-balanced water instead of soil. It’s great if you have limited space and maybe a less than green thumb. Also, a lot of kits can be purchased online (seeds included) so you don’t even have to venture outside to start growing your own food. The Independent recommends these kits, which are available for purchase.

Hit Up Your Hardware Store
If you need essential items at your hardware store, while you’re there, hit up their garden section for dirt, garden pots, and seeds to get your garden started. Just be sure to wear a mask and stay six feet apart! Or see if the store offers curbside pick-up and get your garden started from the trunk of your car.

View three genius home gardening ideas on growing veggies in your backyard or kitchen.

Also check out community resources such as Facebook or NextDoor for local home garden offerings from your neighbors or research to see if your city offers gardening support like free mulch or, in some cases, free trees! Soon you’ll have everything you’ll need to never need anything again.

Special occasions call for Spafinder. Gift today, spa tomorrow.