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Thursday, September 14, 2017

Fresh ginger


Every morning I spend about 10 minutes in the garden with a cup of coffee, looking at things and watering. Then I go back in and work. I have missed gardening as the new book has taken over my life. But today I had a good excuse: I needed fresh ginger for a recipe I was working on. The leaves in the two troughs nearest the house (where my Thai basil forest and curcumin also grow) are looking healthy and I could see the pale new rhizomes pushing out of the soil.


If you are used to tough, store bought ginger, as I am, fresh ginger is unbelievably beautiful.

I planted rhizomes that had begun to show small pale new sprouts (no leaves, just swellings), well after the last frost date, once nights were reliably above 50'F. These troughs have a couple of morning hours of sun for May, June and July, and right now they are in complete shade again.


The pink at the base of the culm (the botanical name for a grass stem) is gorgeous. The skin is transparently thin, and simply disappeared as I microplaned it into a filling for dumplings.

Next year I will plant more ( I think I said that last year...).

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10 comments:

  1. dinahmowSeptember 15, 2017 at 2:01 AM

    My last ginger succumbed to a cold snap, but my galangal is looking lovely and lush.
    Ginger dumplings?Hmm...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MarieSeptember 15, 2017 at 11:51 AM

      The tropics have cold snaps?

      Delete
    2. dinahmowSeptember 15, 2017 at 4:15 PM

      "You bedder believe it, baby!" Yes, not frost in my yard, but seriously low digits and nasty wind chill. But not for long.The Michelin layers go on at sundown and off around mid-morning! :-)

      Delete
  2. virginia piazzaSeptember 15, 2017 at 6:56 AM

    I must try that-when to plant? I live in the Hudson Valley!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MarieSeptember 15, 2017 at 11:53 AM

      Long after last frost date, after nights are above 50'F. Very slow to start, then gets trucking in the humid weather. It does need several months to form new rhizomes and usually I'd pull late September or even early October.

      Delete
  3. webbSeptember 15, 2017 at 11:04 AM

    It's gorgeous. I want some. Do i have to buy it, or can i use "roots" from the grocery store?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MarieSeptember 15, 2017 at 11:54 AM

      I tried to find proper starts but I was looking way late and could not find a reliable source so, yes, store bought. I actually bought the rhizomes in early spring and kept them hanging around, waiting for pale knobs to form.

      Delete
  4. Joanne SSeptember 15, 2017 at 11:11 AM

    Yes, I wondered the same. Would love to grate this tender ginger into dumplings- the men in the family love homemade dumplings.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Karen L RSeptember 18, 2017 at 8:35 AM

    I am wondering about growing ginger in central VT...any hints?

    ReplyDelete

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