Plants in this Post
Has this happened to you? Have you had a vegetable start growing roots in your refrigerator? Green onions have done that to me numerous times, and I have always thrown the root part out. This time when that happened, I said “If you can live in my refrigerator, then you can live outside in dirt.”
We live in an apartment, and we don’t have a patio or yard, and yet I have always wanted to grow at least some of my own food. Well, Charlie, as my friend called him, started me on our apartment vegetable garden. I will be updating this post regularly as the vegetables grow.
We already had a basil plant that was doing fine living on top of the outside of the air conditioner. We even named her Lucille, but her name is pronounced the way that Little Richard did it in his song by the same name, Lucille. I have provided a video if you don’t remember it.
My good friend, who is the director of United States Soldiers Assistance Center and board member of Heal Children with Cancer Worldwide, suggested I use an unused dresser drawer for my garden. She was right, and the garden is doing fine.
Charlie the Spring Onion
We had just moved, and I didn’t have a pot to put the onions in, but Spane had just finished the last of a half-gallon milk container. I cut it in half, made some holes on the bottom, filled it with dirt, and planted the onion inside.
Grace, the Garlic
One day, one of my garlic cloves had a bit of green on it. I usually cut that off and throw it away. This time, I left that one alone, but when I came back to it, it had gotten yellow and dried up. No matter, I put it in a small bowl of water and hoped for the best. When we got back from a weekend away, it had not only revived, it had grown a green sprout, to it was also destined for the apartment vegetable garden.
Clementine the Cabbage
The next vegetable that started living in my refrigerator was a cabbage. It took quite a while for it to get two long roots, and it, too, was destined for the apartment vegetable garden.
Betty the Butter Lettuce
The first time I bought one of those Living Lettuces was for my birthday in 2012 when I made Lobster Rose Petal Salad. I had hesitated to buy that lettuce because it was expensive, but for my birthday, I figured, why not? I didn’t use it all, and was quite surprised that the lettuce stayed nice and fresh in my refrigerator for a long time. It turned out that because I didn’t have to throw away dead leaves, that lettuce was less expensive in the long run. Living lettuce has a root ball, so since it already had one, I decided to plant it when I finished the leaves.
I put it into a bowl of water for about a week so the roots could get nice and strong.
Then I planted it in the Apartment Vegetable Garden, on the other side of where Charlie, Grace and Clementine are living. Betty is sharing her space with a rock that Spane painted that says, “Peace With the Garden”.
Alpheus the Avocado
Usually, I throw away avocado pits, but this time, Spane saved one. It seemed to already be having a head start, so I made it a harness out of florist wire, and suspended it in a plastic container. I change the water frequently, and the pit is doing very well. We’re naming the avocado after my Great Grandfather, Dr. Monroe Alpheus Majors. Alpheus will not be going into the apartment vegetable garden, he will have his own pot when his roots are strong enough.
Clara the Celery
Our celery has not started growing yet, and we haven’t even finished the stalks from the celery I bought at the store last week. I think I saw a tiny root at the very end. When I make potato salad, and use it all up, the celery will be started in a bowl, and when it has enough roots, it, too, will go into the Apartment Vegetable Garden. Hopefully, by the time Thanksgiving comes, Clara will be big enough to harvest. Stay tuned!
Lucille!
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