9 Fun, Hands-On Gardening Projects You Can Grow Right on Your Windowsill!
Welcome, little gardeners and families! Digby the Earthworm is here to guide you through nine delightful kitchen scrap and container gardening adventures. Turn food scraps into fresh food, observe root magic, and learn real botanical science together.
Episode 1 of 9 · Ready in 10-12 Days
How to Regrow Romaine Lettuce from Kitchen Scraps
Growing Medium: Shallow saucer of water · Plant Scrap: Romaine base (2 inches)
Save the romaine lettuce base, cutting about 2 inches high with adult helper assistance.
Stand the stump upright in half an inch of clean water, keeping the top dry.
Place on a bright, cool windowsill and refresh water daily.
In 10 to 12 days, snip tender baby emerald leaves from the center core to top your sandwich or salad!
🔍 Digby's Science Corner: The thick base holds the living heart of the lettuce plant! In cool air and gentle sunshine, fresh baby leaves sprout from the center core without needing soil.
How to Grow Crunchy Radishes in a Pot (4-Week Root Race!)
Growing Medium: Deep pot with soft potting soil · Plant: Radish seeds
Fill your container with soft, crumbly potting soil free of hard stones.
Poke fingertip holes half an inch deep, spaced two fingers apart, and drop one seed in each hole.
Keep the soil damp like a wrung-out sponge in a sunny, breezy spot.
At week 4, grip firmly at the base and pull your crunchy ruby jewel!
🔍 Digby's Science Corner: Radishes are fast-growing root vegetables that push bright pink shoulders above the soil at week 3 when the crisp edible root swells with fresh juice.
Grow Garlic Greens on Your Windowsill from 1 Clove!
Growing Medium: Shallow dish or jar of water · Plant Scrap: 1 plump garlic clove
Ask your grown-up helper to gently break open a garlic bulb into individual plump cloves.
Stand the clove flat root-end DOWN in a saucer with a little clean water, pointy end UP.
Place on a sunny windowsill, keeping just the bottom half wet.
When your garlic greens reach 5 inches tall, snip with scissors to sprinkle over warm soup or toast!
🔍 Digby's Science Corner: Each garlic clove is packed with stored food energy! It requires only moisture and sunlight to awaken its roots downward and shoot tender greens upward.
Fill a wide container box with soft, crumbly potting soil.
Press wrinkled spinach seeds half an inch deep, spaced three fingers apart, and water gently.
Place where it gets cool breeze and bright sunshine, keeping soil nicely damp.
Use the cut-and-come-again rule: snip only the biggest outer leaves, leaving the center to grow more!
🔍 Digby's Science Corner: Spinach makes its own natural sweet antifreeze! When autumn nights turn frosty, leaves convert starches into natural plant sugars to protect themselves.
Regrow Magic Green Onions in 7 Days from Root Ends!
Growing Medium: Small glass of clean water · Plant Scrap: White onion bottoms with roots
Save the white bottoms with roots (about 1-2 inches) when chopping green onions.
Stand onion bottoms upright in a small cup with just enough water to cover the roots.
Set on a bright windowsill, refreshing water every 2 days.
In just 7 days, snip the tall green tops; the same roots can regrow multiple times!
🔍 Digby's Science Corner: Those little white threads at the bottom are living roots! Inside the white bulb base is a hidden growing point that pushes new green tubes upward almost overnight.
Episode 6 of 9 · Ready in 7-10 Days (Sprout) / 3-4 Weeks (Potted)
Regrow Crunchy Celery from the Bottom of the Bunch!
Growing Medium: Shallow saucer of water, then potting soil · Plant Scrap: Bottom base of celery
Ask your grown-up to cut off the thick bottom base of a celery bunch (about 2 inches tall).
Sit the celery base flat in a saucer of water with the cut side facing up.
Watch baby leaves curl from the center in one week.
Once little white roots emerge, tuck it into a pot of soil to grow crisp celery stalks!
🔍 Digby's Science Corner: Celery stalks are filled with thousands of tiny plant cells plumped with water that pop like crispy water balloons when you crunch! The base regenerates fresh new leaves.
Growing Medium: Shallow saucer with water · Plant Scrap: Carrot top stub (1 inch)
Ask your grown-up to slice off the top 1 inch of a crunchy carrot.
Sit the carrot stub flat-side down in a saucer with a shallow layer of water.
Set on a sunny window and add fresh water daily.
In about one week, snip a pinch of the feathery green hair to sprinkle over warm soup or salad!
🔍 Digby's Science Corner: Carrots are botanical cousins of parsley! The orange root stores energy to power a fluffy green miniature jungle of edible, parsley-like fronds on top.
Soak a handful of whole dried pantry peas in cool water overnight to plump them up.
Scatter the plump peas across a shallow tray of damp soil and cover with a light sprinkle of dirt.
Set by a bright window and mist daily with a spray bottle.
When your pea shoots are as tall as your hand (about 2 weeks), snip the sweet curls and crunch!
🔍 Digby's Science Corner: Pea shoots grow curly little ribbons called tendrils! Pea plants use their tendrils like tiny green fingers to reach out, wrap around supports, and climb toward the light.
Fill a shallow tray with soft damp potting soil and pat it smooth and flat.
Sprinkle seeds across the dirt just like birthday cake sprinkles, and press them gently into the soil.
Mist every morning with your spray bottle by a bright window.
In 7 to 10 days, snip a handful of microgreens right above the soil and celebrate your harvest!
🔍 Digby's Science Corner: The very first two heart-shaped leaves on each baby sprout are called seed leaves (cotyledons). They are packed with concentrated plant vitamins and energy!
