• Garlic. Simply plant garlic cloves in potting soil, 2-3 cm deep in a planter with the pointed end up. Cover with potting soil, water once a week and leave in the sun. You can cut the stems of the green garlic when they measure about 10 cm while making sure to keep about 3 cm of stem for continued growth. The stems can be sliced and stir-fry with other vegetables and have a good, slightly milder garlic flavour. When the stalks dry out, it's time to collect: you can then recover the cloves that will have formed a new head of garlic.

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• Shallots. Just put them in water, with the roots down, once it grows you can put them in soil. With regular watering and light, beautiful stalks will quickly grow, and you can cut them to garnish scrambled eggs, salads, quiches or soups. Then, in the same way as garlic, a few months later, the shallot itself can be harvested when the leaves are dry.

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• Green onions. This is probably the easiest vegetable to grow. When you use your onions, cut off a piece of the onion about 3cm from the roots and put it in water. In a few days, beautiful stems will have developed that you can soon harvest. They can be used like shallot stems, chopped in a vegetable pie, vinaigrette, and soup... Once planted in a pot of earth, and after several months, you can harvest fresh onions.

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• Ginger. You will have to be patient for this one and wait several months to see new roots. The good thing is that ginger can grow back from a small part of its root. Just bury it in a pot filled with potting soil in a dark place, always leaving water in the cup of the pot because it likes humidity. 

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• Celery. Cut it at three centimetres from the base, and place it in a bowl of water in a sunny place. When the new leaves start to sprout from the middle, let them grow for about a week before transferring them to a pot of soil.

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• Lettuce. It can grow back from its 2-inch core if placed in a bowl of water filled to the middle of the centre in a sunny location. Don't forget to change the water regularly. After a couple of weeks, the lettuce core will have roots and new leaves. Wait a few days before harvesting so that your lettuce can grow stronger. Once the leaves have grown back, you can transfer them to a pot or planter with potting soil and pick leaves as needed. The same goes for Chinese cabbage.

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• Carrot, beet or turnip. Collect the bottom of a carrot, the part from which the tops came out, with a small part of the vegetable and place it in a bit of water, in a bright place. Roots and leaves will soon grow; you can take some tops if needed to improve your soups.

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• Leeks. In the same way as green onions, leave about 5 centimetres of leek from the base on the root side and place them in a bowl of water; once large enough, replant them in a pot of soil. Do not cut too short it is essential to leave some of the white of the leek for it to grow back. Remember to change the water every two days and rinse the bottom of the leek. 

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• Chives. From the bulb, make sure the root part is about a good centimetre long and place it directly in the soil, covering it with a layer of potting soil; water it to keep the soil moist. Just keep cutting the green shoots back when they have grown back, and you will never have to repurchase chives!

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• Basil, mint and coriander. Many herbs can easily be regenerated, just make sure there is about 5cm of stem left and place them upright in a glass of water. Change the water every 2 days until the roots form. When the new roots start to sprout, transfer the herbs to a pot of soil and let the herb plant flourish in the sun.

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• Potatoes. Simply leave your potato in a dark corner and forget about it until it sprouts... Or pierce a piece of potato with toothpicks to keep it half immersed in a glass of water. Once the roots and leaves have appeared, place the tuber in a large pot or bag of soil.

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• Mushrooms. So this one will probably take a few tries, but once you get the hang of it, you will have your own growing mushrooms to watch! Here you will use the tail of the mushroom, which, once mixed with coffee grounds, a little potting soil and a little compost, will be poured into a tray in the dark, cool and damp place. The surface should be sprayed with water every day, and you will soon see that the mycelium contained in the mushroom pieces will give rise to new small mushrooms. 

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• Pineapples. Although it is a fruit, it is possible to grow it at home, but it will require patience as it can take a long time to bear its first fruit and will require a lot of care if you don't live in the tropics. The trick is to grasp and twist the pineapple crown by the leaves so that the stem remains attached. Next, remove some of the lower leaves to expose the branch without attached fruit flesh. Next, place the pineapple crown in a glass of water, wait for new roots to appear, and then transfer to a pot with fast-draining soil. Replanting worked once the plant resisted being pulled out of the ground. 

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It just goes to show, you don't need a garden to grow vegetables!

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And if it is impossible for you to grow anything in your 9m2, there are many shared gardens from local associations. For example, the association Jardins (ou)verts has initiated the Incroyables comestibles in Rennes. In the city, at the foot of buildings or around houses, the idea is that residents garden and grow vegetables in collective plots. Then, everyone can help themselves for free, even without having participated in the cultivation... 
There are also student associations, such as Plantafac, an association of Rennes 1 University that aims to promote the use of a shared garden on the campus of Beaulieu to allow everyone to recover the products that will be grown there.

 

The advantage of these shared gardens is that they also allow people to meet new people and discuss and share convivial moments.

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Ressources:

[1] 20 Vegetables You Can Re-Grow From Scraps

[2]  Regrow Food Scraps: 19 Vegetables You Can Grow - Foodrevolution.org

[3] Les Incroyables Comestibles

[4] Plantafac

[5] 25 Foods You Can Re-Grow Yourself from Kitchen Scraps