Produce costing too much? Try gardening at home with kitchen scraps

Produce costs at the grocery store are rising. To save money, some folks are growing their food at home—but not from seeds—from kitchen scraps.

“It’s sort of just one of those things that I think is really interesting,” said horticulturalist Kath Smyth with the Calgary Horticultural Society. “I have some ginger growing from the ginger root out in my kitchen because I never used up all the ginger.”

WATCH: CityNews’ Jillian Code reports on turning kitchen scraps into home-grown produce

Smyth has grown ginger, herbs, lettuce, and celery all from things that otherwise would have been composted.

“I’ve been growing my own lettuce now for five years,” Smyth said. “I started on the celery thing about three years ago”

Smyth also says that getting into kitchen scrap gardening might be easier than you think, all you need is a vegetable with a solid base, a thin lid, like that of a coffee can, and a little bit of water.

“Keep your water fresh, and make sure the cut is good,” Smyth said. “A clean cut on the bottom particularly. Make sure when they cut it off in the field, that they left that hard circle in the lettuce.”

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The City of Calgary estimates the average household spends $2,000 on food waste, a cost that can be reduced by growing produce at home.

“The only thing that I really invested in is my good potting mix,” Smyth said.

Kitchen scrap gardening can be done in any size house or apartment, all you need is a spot in the sun.