From Scraps to Food?

I garden because I am scared of being wasteful.

I don't know how I became frugal. Maybe it is because I work in the most wasteful industry. Maybe because I like to travel and need to save money to do it. Maybe it is because after bringing my first child into the world, I was terrified at what I would be leaving behind. Or maybe the "reduce-reuse-recycle" campaign hit hard. 

But regardless of why, I find myself hopefully optimistic that I can grow things from seeds, that I can find a craft for the non-recycalable waste, that we will resuse boxes and ziplock bags. 

My family was not frugal. Ironically, my mom grew up in a home where "going to the dump" to find things was a normal thing to say. Her parents survived the depression, and I am sure that left a lasting impact. She often tells us that she had 2 pairs of jeans and 2 sweatshirts, and that was it. 

My mom only bought us new clothes, and a lot of them. She only bought name brand snacks and food, and we had a lot of that, too- even when we couldn't afford it. She gave us what she didn't have- she didn't want us to feel that level of embarassment when we went out into the world. 

What I want for my kids is a knowledge of how our food grows, the effort it takes, how easily it is to NOT grow it (meaning how easy it is for the plants to die!), and an understanding of waste. Sometimes I wonder what they will take from all of this and how it will show in the ways that they raise their own kids...

I often use veggie leftovers to make veggie stock for this very reason, which blew my dads mind one day. He had never really thought about how easy it is to make veggies stock til he was over for dinner and I was taking all the scraps and throwing them in a pot of water. 

TIP- you can freeze your veggie scraps until you have enough to fill a pot half way. Then you just boil them for a half hour, and save the water when its done! You can then compost the remains if you are a closet hippie like myself :)

The other day, I made shepards pie at the request of my youngest (7). While I was peeling the potatoes, I thought about how wasteful it is. Then I thought: will new potatoes will grow from peels?? 

That is now today's attempt at being less wastefull.

I think I will also try quarter of an onion that I have leftover. I will update you on the progress! So far, I laid the potato peels out to "dry" a bit (picked up the idea from a quick internet search). I only saved the skins that had eyes- they are going in the dirt today, but I may have dried them out too much...

Only time will tell! And if it doesn't work? I will use the soil somewhere else. 

Please share ideas of reusing and being less wastefull! I have piles of things in my basement that I would love to use up :)