Hi, friends -
Recently, on a Food Network TV show, a caller said you can "plant"
ginger in a flower pot - in with a houseplant if you want - and cut
off what you need when you need it. I tried it - except that I almost
buried the ginger as I would a tuber in the garden, like iris, and it
withered. So I bought another piece, and in October buried the cut end
in a pot, with the rest of it sticking up out of the soil. In a couple
of weeks, one of the little "buds" sprouted, and now I have a green
shoot five inches long growing from that bud. I water it when the soil
appears dry, and meanwhile the ginger has not withered. After I read
your posts, I dug it up (nothing like scientific evidence!) to see
whether it had roots. It did not, but the base where I planted it was as
firm as it had been the day I bought it.
I haven't prepared a recipe recently calling for fresh ginger, but
I expect when I do I'll just cut off a piece and grate or slice it. I'll
let you know how it is.
I also have frozen a whole root in a ziplock plastic bag, and have
frozen the grated root in small quantities - a teaspoon or so. Those are
both reliable methods of preserving the ginger to have it available when
you need it.
Thanks to all of you for your great recipes.
Margaret Webb, from Mountain View, Missouri where at last, after an
unusually warm November and even early December, winter is a'comin' in.
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