Gardener reveals why you should never throw away store-bought strawberries: 'This worked out better than I had imagined'

Eating through a pack of strawberries can feel like a race against time, as they seemingly always go bad before you can finish. 

But as one TikToker has discovered, old strawberries don't need to go straight in the trash — they can provide a big boost to your garden instead.

The scoop

In a viral TikTok, the influencer Tay Brice (@taybrice) shows what happens when you plant old strawberries in your garden.

The clip shows Brice, trowel in hand, burying a tub of old strawberries in the soil in her garden. 

The following summer, innumerable strawberry plants sprouted — with their distinctive green leaves and white flowers visible. 

We can't see any strawberry fruits just yet, but those are almost certainly on their way. Strawberries typically bear fruit between June and July in Canada, where Brice is located. 

The yellow spots on a strawberry's flesh are called achenes, and each contains its own strawberry plant seed. To get the best results from these achenes, you should let your strawberry ripen and then dry it out before planting. 

It's certainly worked for Brice, whose flower bed is overrun with strawberry plants. 

"Well, this worked out better than I had imagined," she wrote in a caption.

@taybrice

Well this worked out better than i had imagined…

♬ Pretty Girls Pour Some Sugar DJ Griffey Mashup - DJ Griffey

How it's helping

Cultivating homegrown fruit is one surefire way to get better-tasting food at a fraction of the cost — and it helps that Brice's gardening hack also cuts food waste.

While grocery bills continue to rise across the U.S., the fruit you grow in your garden is free — especially if you're planting old fruit rather than buying seeds.

It also tastes fresher. Fruit starts to deteriorate as soon as it is picked, which means there's a big benefit to bringing strawberries straight in from your garden the minute they're juicy and ripe.

And strawberries go bad especially quickly. Their average shelf life is just seven days.

What everyone's saying

Brice's zero-waste gardening hack is inspiring hordes of TikTokers, with some chiming in with their tips. 

"[This] just changed the future of the two strawberries in my fridge," one user wrote. 

"I started just throwing mine in my yard for critters to eat and now I get them around my yard every year," another commented.

"We do this with our bell peppers, tomatoes and potatoes in separate barrels. We get [a] great variety of veggies," another TikToker said. 

Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more, waste less, and help yourself while helping the planet.