The best Ginger in the world
Is the ginger you grow yourself
Seriously! I did not harvest much ginger root out of this long season .. but even if you only get one ginger root .. it is the best ginger in the world. By far the best ginger. I have never tasted real ginger root until today !! That is the ginger I grew myself.
The first mistake I made is that I over watered the soil.
If you try growing your own roots indoors .. in plastic containers .. do not drown them in water. The first plastic container I used was too shallow .. and the sprouting root corms were too wet. So, I lost 70 percent of the growth.
I was so happy to have the beautiful tall ginger leaves growing from March through until November. Ginger greens are like beautiful slender potted plants. So lovely, that you do not have to grow ginger for the roots .. you can grow the ginger for its beauty.
I did not realise that I over watered the first ginger roots because the tall green leaves were so beautiful and growing so magnificently. The more they grew .. the more I watered them. This is how we learn = never be afraid to make mistakes .. and never be discouraged .. but learn from any "mistakes".
I later discovered that beautiful tall ginger greens do not necessarily mean beautiful crisp ginger roots. Most of the ginger under the soil had rotted away .. and were useless as a food source!
I was surprised! I thought the fresh roots would taste sharper and stronger than store bought fresh ginger root. I was wrong! My own ginger tasted sweeter and more savory than normal ginger root from the market. Of course, this is Europe .. the ginger closer to home (in Asia) is probably a lot fresher '-)
I put the washed home grown ginger into a small pot of water to keep them fresh until I have used them. First I tried stir fry vegetables with ginger, fresh garlic and lemongrass. Usually, I do not stir fry .. I steam my vegetables or eat them raw .. and this was the surprise. My own fresh grown ginger was so sweet and not at all sharp or bitter. The taste was so gentle .. and so fragile. I was really amazed by the flavor.
I planted my "Red Thai Ginger" in June, 2012 .. into a deeper plastic container with the ginger corms at the top of the soil (not buried deep in the soil). Those roots are still growing [indoors] .. and the ginger greens are still green.
I will do another post on my "Red Thai Ginger" .. which was planted on the surface of deeper containers and was not over watered. Those ginger roots are really sprouting out of the soil [of an indoor garden].
I have this problem that they are so beautiful .. I do not want to harvest them. Today I began a new ginger sprouting batch .. which I will explain in another post. If you live in a warm climate or have a greenhouse .. you can continually grow your own fresh ginger all year round.
I have one important thing to say! In our society, today, we are so conditioned to get more .. get bigger .. if it is small - it is not worth it. So, what I am saying is the opposite...
It does not matter if you only grow enough ginger for two or three meals .. it will change your life! This is where words fail me. There are no words to describe or explain how growing your own food can transform you .. other than: Eat it!
In that respect, "small is beautiful".
What I have learned from the ginger plant is: Okay! We eat the local food from the farmers and growers .. that feeds our physical bodies. But .. we become enlightened when we eat the smallest part of the food we grow ourselves.
Do not think only of "the large" and eat only "the large" .. that makes us greedy .. but also think of "the small" and eat "the small" .. especially if you have grown it yourself.
