Grocery Store Gardening

This hub takes you on an afternoon adventure with me: Mission Grocery Garden!

Although I do not have a large international market in my neighborhood, I do have a Food Depot that carries many Mexican items so I was able to find prickly pear and aloe vera for my garden. In my local Food Depot, the prices are lower and the quality of the produce is better than other grocery stores. See how these prices compare to stores near you:

There are many advantages to gardening grocery style. First, the produce is generally fully grown, like the green onion. Second, you can save yourself the cost of labor by buying grown plants instead of growing them from seed. Third, if it doesn't work out - you can just eat it or toss it into the compost pile!

Using produce as garden plants can be an economical and easy way to have fresh vegetables and herbs year round. In the past, I have grown garlic from the bitty leftover pieces of bulbs that were not large enough to cook. Stubby roots of green onion have also been favorites in my perennial garden. After cutting the green leaves for eating, I would plant the white roots in the ground.

To help you identify these produce items on your next shopping trip, the following photographs show you how the vegetables were packaged at the grocery store. These vegetables are suitable for growing at home because they easily form roots. Note that not all of these would be suitable for where you garden. Some of these may be annuals, biennials, or perennials - depending on your zone. For example, in Metro Atlanta green onion can be grown all year long. Georgia is well known for its Vidalia onions so I'm guessing that they will do well, as long as they take to my garden.

I have planted pads of prickly pear before. Providing them a little nest of soil seems to be good enough to allow them to grow. These were planted in less accessible areas of my garden boxes to keep gardeners safe from thorns. Prickly pear is a good candidate for my garden, especially since Metro Atlanta often experiences drought.

I have not planted Vidalia onions before. If fact, I was looking for leeks, but found these instead. Georgia is popular for their Vidalia onions, so I hope that I will have success with them.

Green onion can be bundled into threes or fours during planting. This seems to help support them as they grow. The next time you use green onion in a recipe, keep the white rooted ends and plant them in your garden for fresh, home-grown green onion.

I have seen aloe vera grown as houseplants, so I thought I'd give it a try. Ginger is so much more tasty when it is harvested fresh. I added a small succulent to keep interest in the pot while I wait for the ginger to put up leaves. I will start the ginger and aloe plants inside, and then let it grow outdoors during the warmer months. The pots have rocks at the bottom, hay, soil, and a layer of sand.

I will update this hub to let you know what grows and what doesn't. If you have had experience with grocery gardening, please share your stories in the comments section. The more we grow, the better we grow!

Two weeks after the initial planting, I finally found leeks in WalMart's produce section. Leeks are fabulous in soups. My father cooks them with a bit of clam juice and white wine to compliment his shellfish dishes. I planted the leeks in pots that I am keeping indoors during cooler winter days.

The green onion and vidalias are growing very well outside, showing new growth. The prickly pear seems to have been bitten by the cold, but they might recover enough to grow roots when it gets warmer. I am still waiting to see growth on the aloe and the ginger, but I expect that I will have to wait a few more weeks to see any sprouts.

I purchased four small heads of bok choy from an Asian market. Inspired by Julie McM's idea of planting celery, I planted the bottom end of a bok choy in one of my indoor pots. In the photo, you can already see small spots of growth after only five days. I'm excited to see how the bok choy grows, and how it will taste after being grown at home.