Growing from kitchen left overs - Carrots & Garlic

Recently when I opened my refrigerator I found some of the carrots putting out shoots and roots. 

Instead of throwing it away I cut about 3/4 -1 inch of the top and left it in water for a few days.

Since it already has small top shoots and leaves I planted them outdoors. I had about 6 or 7 of these that I planted outdoors. Not sure if it is clear from the above pictures, the white colored lines you see on the carrot base is actually tiny white roots that dried off a bit before I could put them in water. no worries, it will produce more roots. When I planted them I made sure that at least some of the top white shoots are above the soil line.

Remember carrot tops planted in the garden will not produce carrots. These are biennial plants which means it will produce flowers and seeds in its second season/year of growth. I am planting these so I can collect seeds for next year planting.

About 2 weeks after planting outdoors.

A couple of months later all the carrot tops that I planted started flowering. Once the flower head dries off you can harvest the seeds and plant them next year. The seeds will grow and you can harvest the carrots. There should be hundreds of seeds here from just one plant and you will never have to buy carrot seeds again!

Another vegetable that decided its time to put out some shoots and leaves, and my kitchen is an ideal place for that.

Yes, you got it right; it is garlic.

I gently separated the cloves.

View of the base. No sign of roots yet.

Removed some of the white/transparent skin and put them in water with the pointed tip up. I left them on my window sill. You need not wait for garlic cloves to be this long before putting them in water. You can start small - some cloves below in water barely have any shoots.

The next day it started sprouting roots. Don't worry about how the shoots are all growing in different directions. It will straighten itself out in a few days. Don't believe me? Look at the pictures after a week.

And  a week later.

Now these are ready to be planted outdoors.

Don't be disheartened if all your plants didn't get established in your garden. Even if you have some loses it will be all worth it. Remember you are trying to grow something out of stuff that you usually throw away. My garlic looked a little wilted in the beginning when I planted them outdoors but overtime it should grow alright.

Garlic harvest.

I left these out in the shade to dry for a few days to cure them before cleaning and bringing them indoors.