Stop Throwing Out Banana Peels And Use Them To Grow Vegetables At Home

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, "when food decomposes in a landfill, methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is emitted." That's why it is important to try and reduce food waste by finding new ways to utilize the peels, cores, and other components of fruits and vegetables that we usually throw out. For example, you can revitalize your garden with just a few banana peels. Just like the inside of a banana is good for you, the outside is good for the earth.

The various minerals present in banana peels, like calcium, phosphorus, and potassium, mean they make for excellent fertilizer. It's also incredibly simple to turn them into plant food. Throughout your week as you snack on bananas and use them to make incredible banana bread, collect your peels in a reusable bag until you're ready to fertilize. Then, slice up the peels, making sure to remove any fruit stickers that may be attached to them. Toss the chopped peels into a closed container of water for a few days, strain the mixture, and use the nutrient-infused water on your plants. You can compost the solid bits, or bury them around your garden.

There are a few ways to unlock banana peels' gardening potential. One method involves using either the sun or an oven set to low to dry out chopped up peels, then mixing the resulting chips into the dirt of your garden. This will help to add nutrition directly into the soil. An important thing to note with this technique is that if you do dry your banana peels in the oven, make sure to leave the oven door open so air can circulate.

To make things even easier, you can use banana peels as mulch without having to slice them up. Lay the peels around the base of your plants, leaving room for the plants to grow. Then, sprinkle regular mulch over the peels to keep away insects and other pests. Over time, the banana peels will break down, becoming plant food in the process.

Using banana peels to help your plants grow is a good option if you have a smaller garden and can't justify buying a large bag of fertilizer. It's also a lot cheaper. If you still have a lot of peels on your hands, throw the extra ones in the compost, which is one of the simplest ways to use up vegetable scraps. And the next time you use banana peels to help your garden thrive, just think of it as sharing a snack with Mother Earth.