The Easiest Vegetables to Grow Indoors During Quarantine
Skip the trip to the grocery store and save money by growing your own vegetables indoors year-round. It’s a fun way to spend time at home during the COVID-19 outbreak. Plus, there are many advantages to cultivating a home garden, such as learning new skills and knowing exactly where your food comes from.
Put your green thumb to good use with the easiest vegetables to grow indoors. We’ve also included health benefits and recipe ideas to stir excitement about your new homegrown produce.
Carrots
How to Grow: An indoor garden won’t produce large carrots, but the veggies will still be fresh and decent in size. Even better, carrots grow year-round, so you can have as many as your heart desires. These veggies just need a deep container, sun and moisture to thrive.
First, fill the container with moist soil and plant the seeds a quarter-inch deep. Next, plop the container in front of a window where the sun shines often, and then watch your little plants grow! Make sure to keep the soil moist — not wet.
Health Benefits: Carrots are an excellent source of vitamin A and carotenoids, which boost eye health. Carotenoids have also been associated with anti-cancer effects. If you want to consume more fiber, try carrots — they’re loaded with it.
Delicious Recipes: Prepare garlic parmesan-roasted carrots or brown sugar-baked carrots in an oven or air fryer (which is great for fast meal prepping). You can also include these veggies in soups, salads and tasty desserts.
Kale
How to Grow: Indoor planting of leafy greens is fun and beneficial. Considered a superfood, kale grows from seeds and regrows from cuttings. If you want to start with seeds, germinate them in a tray first. The seedlings typically sprout within four weeks. As they grow, carefully replant each of them in its own medium-sized container with moist soil. Make sure to give your kale at least four hours of sunlight every day. When its leaves grow larger, you can harvest and eat them.
Health Benefits: This superfood is loaded with essential vitamins and minerals. With many antioxidants and anti-inflammatory benefits, it’s easy to see why people include kale in their diet. It’s also an excellent source of iron, calcium, vitamin C and fiber.
Delicious Recipes: Bake some kale chips (in an oven or air fryer) or add it to meals like pastas, salads, soups and smoothies.
Radishes
How to Grow: Radishes grow well indoors. According to experts, it’s best to reproduce radishes using seeds. This root veggie quickly matures in 25 days. To successfully grow radishes, you need a deep and wide container filled with soil. Scatter the seeds a quarter-inch deep in the soil. Six to eight hours of indirect sunlight helps the veggie form roots.
It’s also possible to regrow a radish by cutting off the top with the roots and sticking it in moist, fertile soil. The outcome is a beautiful new radish plant.
Health Benefits: Radishes are loaded with vitamin C and fiber, which supports digestion and smooth bowel movements. Research also reveals that radishes may protect you from cancer thanks to molecules called isothiocyanates.
Delicious Recipes: Whip up garlic-roasted radishes or add them to salads or salsa.
Scallions
How to Grow: Scallions, also called green onions, are easy to take care of and grow indoors. That’s great news for beginner gardeners! Also, you don’t have to worry about moving the plant into or out of the sun, because it doesn’t need much sunlight. If you still have the bulb with roots, you can regrow your own scallions in a vase or jar. Plop the roots into a glass of clean water. Change the water whenever it starts looking murky. Within a week, the scallions should flourish and be ready for your next meal.
Health Benefits: Scallions are high in vitamin C, an antioxidant that protects cells and helps the body heal. The vegetable is also rich in vitamin K, which maintains healthy bones and prevents blood clots.
Delicious Recipes: Cook Chinese scallion pancakes or sprinkle them, sliced, on dishes like breaded chicken, dipping sauces or fried rice.
Ginger
How to Grow: Ginger is another plant that’s easy to grow inside all throughout the year. Many gardeners gladly comment that the work is low-maintenance. To start yours, find an organic ginger root and a large, shallow pot (bowl planter) with soil. Cover the root under a thin layer of soil and keep the soil moist. In a few weeks, watch the ginger sprout above the soil. You can keep regrowing new ginger with your old ginger roots.
Health Benefits: Well-known for its medicinal properties, ginger relieves colds, stomachaches, nausea, inflammation and muscle pain. The vegetable boosts metabolism and protects against diseases too. It’s also rich in potassium, which regulates muscle contractions.
Delicious Recipes: Ginger is a popular ingredient in sushi recipes and health drinks. Try adding it to teas, soups, smoothies, juices, salad dressings and cookies.
A Quick Review
These plants are easy to care for and most of them need a good pot and soil.
Here is a list of the items we suggested:
- Container/Planter
- Potting Mix (Soil for indoor and outdoor plants)
- Seed Starter Tray
- Carrot Seeds
- Kale Seeds
- Radish Seeds
- Deck Rail Planter/Box Planter (For radish)
- Vase or Jars (For scallions)
- Bowl Planter (For ginger)
- Air Fryer (To quickly and easily cook your home veggies)
Happy planting!
If you’re searching for more activities to do at home, take a look at these fun ideas:
Become Your Own Best (At-Home) Barista with These Must-Have Items
Cure Those Boredom Blues with Fun Indoor Activities for Adults
Free Workouts for Stay-At-Home Fitness Beginners
These Products Will Transform Your Backyard (or Balcony) into a Summer Oasis
