Take my Ginger! Please!

 

Drum roll, please…here is the final-ish result of the “How to Kill Your Lawn” project I first mentioned last June.  All in all, a pretty good success except for the nice crop of nut grass growing amongst the impatiens (but aren’t those the BIGGEST IMPATIENS you’ve ever seen?), clover, and vincas.  Also, I need to finish that path.  Of course the point here is that we have a combination of form and function.  Observe the so-called dwarf banana tree at the left:  It is now taller than the house but it has yet to put out a flower.  The coffee plants aren’t looking too hot and I fear the impatiens may be competing for their water. 

But I do have one unqualified success.  The spiky plants growing at the top right are edible ginger.  My crop has flowered and I’ve harvested a few of the roots, and all I can say is until you’ve used garden fresh ginger in your cooking, you don’t know what you’re missing.  And it was easy!

Above you can see the bulbs poking out of the ground.  And this was only part of one plant.  Here’s what I did:

1.  You can buy ginger root for planting, although I have never seen it in the garden centers on Oahu.  I just went to my local food co-op and bought some fresh organic ginger.  Look for the healthiest root you can find, and don’t buy roots that look withered or dried up.

2.  Cut the root into several pieces, with a few “eyes” per piece.

3.  Stick ‘em in the ground.  That’s it.  Well OK, here are a couple rules: bury the ginger about 6 inches deep in well drained soil that retains moisture, 12 to 18 inches apart.  Even non-ornamental ginger is attractive, so instead of putting it in your vegetable beds, consider planting it along a fence or border, but keep in mind that ginger can grow up to 2-3 feet high.

4.   Keep the soil moist.

5.  After 8-10 months, the plants will begin to flower.  The blooms are much less conspicuous than the torch ginger grown as ornamentals but are interesting in their own right.  At about this time you will notice a lovely ginger scent if you brush up against the plant.

6.  After several months you can carefully harvest from the roots as needed.  Otherwise, pull the plants up after they are done flowering and turn yellow.  The roots become more fibrous as the plant flowers and matures.

7.  Take care not to bruise the skins.  Fresh ginger can keep up to several months stored in a sealed bag in the refrigerator.  Or you can leave it in the ground and harvest as needed. 

 

My only problem now is that I have more fresh ginger on my hands than I know what to do with.  As it turns out, none of my friends use it much in cooking and we currently have a long term houseguest who isn’t too much into the Asian foods, so…if you live on Oahu and want some fresh ginger root, drop me a line. Please.