The good news is that my second try at growing ginger took off well. It has been growing well on the front porch with the other herbs. It sent out 3 strong shoots, and recently developed a fourth. Now the leaves are beginning to yellow with the cooler weather and I'm preparing to bring it indoors. I haven't decided if I'm going to harvest any of the root, or keep it as an ornamental plant.
My sesame experiment was not so successful. As I mentioned in my harvest update, only one of the 8 plants bloomed and it only had one flower. I harvested it when the leaves were beginning to yellow, but the seed pod, was still green. I didn't want it to open and loose the seeds. Here's what the seedpod looked like before it dried.
It held a total of 13 black sesame seeds. Next year, I need better soil and better light.
4 comments:
Oh, so interesting! We resolved to plant some ginger this spring, but I ended up mincing it into a recipe in a moment of desperation. And I must know more about the sesame. Where did you get the seeds or start for it? It's also on my list of things to try...
June,
I got some fresh black sesame seeds from my local coop and started those first in a paper towel, then in soil. I also ordered some from Peaceful Vally because I wasn't sure the coop ones would work. Both sets sprouted well, and I believe it was the one from the Peaceful Valley that actually produced the one flower. However, I bet in better soil conditions either would do fine.
Having grown up in a rather large and traditional Vietnamese family, I have many fond memories of my brother and sisters and I all gathered around the kitchen table cooking together. Needless to say, to this day, I rely heavily on my Asian herbs and spices. I've experimented in the past with great success growing and overwintering indoors other Asian herbs like Lemongrass and have been meaning to try ginger. I've read that you can sprout the ginger like you do a potato, then lay the root on top of potting soil, and then cover with a couple inches of sand and grow it that way. Adding the sand is supposed to make harvesting the root a lot easier. Keep us updated on your ginger!
How interesting... never thought of growing sesame seeds!! I've 'started ginger growing, but it never seems to get too far along before it dies off.. i have a piece that is starting right now, hopefully it'll do better... thanks for visiting my blog emily, sorry i missed you..
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