I love using fresh ginger when I cook. It brings an intense spicy, sweetness to asian cooking that is delightful on the tongue. One of my all time favorite recipes that calls for freshly grated ginger are my Asian Pork Kabobs. Give them a try, you will love them!
Not only is ginger a delicious ingredient to add to recipes it has some pretty amazing health benefits as well.
Most of us are familiar with some of the more common uses of Ginger; to help with digestion, to reduce nausea, and help fight the flu and the common cold. Ginger also has beneficial anti-inflammatory properties. It has been shown to reduce pain and stiffness for individuals suffering from osteoarthritis.
A new area of research has found that ginger may drastically lower blood sugars and improve heart disease risk factors associated with Type II Diabetes. It also appears to aid in speeding up the emptying of the stomach, which can be beneficial for people with chronic stomach and indigestion issues.
Did you know that if taken at the beginning of a woman’s menstrual period it appears to help alleviate menstrual cramps? Studies show that ginger can also lead to significant reductions in LDL cholesterol and blood triglyceride levels.
Ginger may also improve brain function and protect against age-related damage to the brain, especially in women. It helps reduce the risk of bacterial infections and has been proven to be beneficial in fighting RVS viruses, a class of respiratory viruses.
Apparently ginger is pretty freaking amazing!!! I say…BRING IT ON!!!
I always seem to run out when I want to use it the most. So instead of constantly buying more and more ginger at the supermarket I went on the hunt to find out if I could grow it at home so I could have it on hand anytime I wanted to use it.
The good news is that it’s really easy to grow! Are you interested in finding out how to grow your own ginger? Keep reading…
The next time you are at the grocery store pick up an extra knob of ginger. We aren’t going to eat this one, we are going to plant it. Look for a knob that has “eyes” like the ones noted in the photo below.
These eyes are where shoots will sprout and develop into a plant. The more eyes on the knob, the more shoots you will likely end up with. Look for a piece with numerous “eyes”.
When selecting a pot, use one that has a drainage hole and one that is fairly wide. Ginger’s growth habit is to form tubers (often referred to as the roots) that spread just under the surface of the soil in a horizontal fashion. A wider, shallow pot is better suited to growing ginger than a tall narrow pot.
Fill the pot with a good quality, well draining potting soil and place the ginger root knob on the surface of the soil. Gently nestle the root down into the soil.
Cover the knob with about a 1/2 inch or so of soil. We aren’t planting the root very deep, you want to keep it just under the surface of the soil.
Water the soil well and place the pot in a covered protected area.
Keep an eye on the soil, you don’t want to water excessively but if the soil dries out you will want to give it a drink of water.
After about 2-3 weeks you should start to see stems peeking up from the surface of the soil.
You can begin harvesting ginger as soon as 4-6 months after it sprouts. The rhizomes will be cream colored with pink scales when they are ready to harvest and have a milder taste than more mature rhizomes. Mature ginger rhizomes can be harvested at about 10-12 months. Mature rhizomes will have a brown skin and have a sharper, more intense flavor than younger rhizomes.
You can harvest the entire plant, or using a hand trowel, gently dig up and cut off smaller pieces and let the remaining plant continue to grow. I typically dig up a small portion that I need for a recipe and leave the rest of the plant to continue growing until I need to harvest more for another recipe.
When temperatures outside start to dip below 70 degrees, move the container indoors and place it near a window that receives plenty of bright indirect light. This allows you to continue harvesting ginger for several months. Just be sure to keep the soil moist and feed with a good fertilizer every few weeks.
If you end up with more ginger then you know what to do with; try this easy recipe to make a delightful ginger tea. Not only does it taste good but it’s good for you too! Remember all those health benefits you receive from ginger? This tea makes it easy to get them.
Ginger Tea
- Peel ginger root and slice it into thin slices. (Use a spoon to easily scrape off the skin).
- Bring water to a boil in a saucepan. Once it is boiling, add the sliced ginger.
- Cover the pan with a lid and turn off the heat. Allow ginger slices to steep for 10 minutes.
- Remove the ginger slices and pour the tea into your favorite mug.
- Enjoy ginger tea sweetened with a touch of honey.
Did You Try This?
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