With everything being shut down a lot of people have been left to their own devices. There’s basically nothing to do except panic-buy groceries, and, well, just panic.  

But do you wanna know who’s not panic-buying groceries? People who have gardens. Why would you need to panic-buy when you can do your produce shopping straight from your backyard?  

So if you’re looking for a relaxing quarantine hobby, might I suggest trying to start a home garden, or tending to some house plants? There’s no better way to battle boredom than by getting your hands a little dirty. 

If you’re starting from scratch, it might take time before you can reap the benefits of gardening. Luckily, the following plants have relatively short growing seasons, but most people don’t have any reason to rush these days, anyway.  

Here is a list of some plants that are easy to grow from home. All of these plants can be grown indoors, which is especially useful if you don’t have a backyard.  

Scallions

Scallions, also known as green onions, are a part of the onion family. Although they are milder than most onions, they can easily be added to your dishes as a topping.  

You can regrow scallions by saving the roots of the green onion bulb and covering them root-end down with water. They will grow in about two weeks in the sun.  

Scallions are low commitment, and don’t take up a lot of space, which makes them the perfect indoor plant. Once placed in a pot of soil, they will regrow year after year, which means you’re basically getting a never–ending supply of scallions.  

Herbs

Many herbs can easily grow indoors, like mint, basil and chives. You can either start your herb garden from seeds, or you can buy herb plants which will help speed up the growing process.  

Herbs thrive in sunny and warm locations with regularly watered roots. Herbs are plants that can be regularly pruned, but be careful not to overwater or over prune as this could damage your plant. 

If you want to get started on a herb garden, Indigo sells indoor garden kits on their website, like their “Herbs Of Italy Indoor Garden Grow Kit” which includes rosemary, thyme and oregano seeds. It pretty much can’t get easier than this.  

Baby Kale

If you’re using your time in self-isolation to get your eating habits back on track, now is the perfect time to start growing kale. 

Most kale can be grown and harvested in less than a month, and if you want to be zero-waste you can try growing kale from your kitchen scraps.  

If you cut the top bud off an already growing kale plant, dip it in root hormone, plant it in a pot and water it regularly, you will have a flourishing plant in no time. This is a simplified version, but kale is great to experiment with if you want to regrow a plant using vegetable cuttings.  

You can also grow it from seeds, but any zero-waste efforts should be applauded.