Home cook shares money-saving method to have free vegetables at your fingertips: 'This is great'

Starting a vegetable garden feels impossible sometimes. If you live in a small space without a yard, this may be doubly so. 

Enter TikToker Optimistic Kitchen (@optimistickitchen). They posted a video about starting a garden in their kitchen using scraps from vegetables they buy. 

@optimistickitchen Container Gardening can even mean keeping a little scrap garden in your kitchen! It's great way to reduce food waste, help your food budget, and add more fresh green in your life! #OptimisticKitchen #makeyourkitchenyourhappyplace #ReduceFoodWaste #Garden #GrowFood #growyourfood #ScrapGarden #GrowFromScraps #growyourscraps #containergardening #unlimitedcabbage #cabbagehack #budgetfriendly #foodbudget #kitchenscrapgarden #fyp #foryou #fypfood #Foodtok #creatorsearchinsights ♬ original sound - Optimistic Kitchen

"Container gardening can even mean keeping a little scrap garden in your kitchen! It's [a] great way to reduce food waste, help your food budget, and add more fresh green in your life!" they said.

The scoop

Starting a garden that saves you money and lets you have fresh vegetables whenever you need them doesn't have to be a huge job. In this video, Optimistic Kitchen shows you how to start with a head of cabbage and end up with planted cabbage in your garden.

First, chop off the bottom part of the cabbage and remove several of the outer leaf layers. This helps ensure you don't end up with rotten leaves in your water later. 

Next, place the bottom of the cabbage in a shallow glass or bowl with water. The stem should be in the water, but you should keep as many leaves out as possible. Put the container with the cabbage in a window that gets sun and change the water every day. 

Over time, it will sprout roots and leaves. You can put it in soil or keep it in the glass. You can cut leaves off the outside and let the middle part of the plant continue producing new leaves for you to use. 

How it's helping

Growing your own food, no matter where, when, or how you do it, is a good way to save money, according to Iowa State University. 

When you focus on growing vegetables that are expensive at the store and easy to keep, you'll save even more. The great thing about this hack is that it allows you to start small and expand as much or as little as you want and can handle. 

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, using what would usually be food waste to grow more food helps avoid food in landfills, where it can rot and contribute to harmful gases in the atmosphere. 

What is the biggest reason you don't grow food at home? Not enough time Not enough space It seems too hard I have a garden already Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

If you can't grow your own food, there are a number of organizations that can help you preserve food waste without a garden. Check out Misfits Market, Too Good To Go, and Flashfood to see innovative ways to save money and waste less food.  

What everyone's saying

Other TikTokers loved this hack. 

"My dad has been doing this since 2020! Tomatoes, onions, garlic, potatoes, bell peppers, celery!" one said. 

"This is great, my mother does this with avocados," someone else added. 

"You're really helping a lot of people with this thank you! I love cabbage!!!" another person exclaimed.

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