Tag Archives: Raleigh

December 1, 2012 · 10:31 AM

Harvesting culinary ginger.

The first hard frost was this week. When I say hard I mean 25f. Our typical winter temps are about 25f to 30f at night and in the 30s or 40s during the day.

Frost has killed the foliage of the culinary ginger in the garden so it’s time to harvest the roots. It’s a shame, though, because one plant was beginning to bloom and its the first time I have had that to happen.

Below is the bud and a small pink flower was peeking out the day before the frost.

The plants are now mushy from frost and have fallen over.

I simply pull and the root comes up.

I rinse the soil off in a bucket of water then pour the water and soil back into the garden bed.

Now I need to trim off the roots and clean the remaining soil by hand.

Ginger will last about two months in your vegetable crisper in a zip lock bag. You can also freeze it in small portions so its ready to use. Other methods are storing is to store it in jars of vodka as if its pickled. I might have to try that one!

Namaste’

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Tagged as Ginger, Raleigh

November 21, 2012 · 1:30 AM

What’s up with the piles of leaves in the street?

Every Fall when the piles of leaves appear on the streets I wonder why people are throwing away that good mulch and compost? My neighbor’s pile is about 20 feet long, three feet high, and five feet wide.

In the Spring these people spend hundreds of dollars on bags of mulch and compost.

Here on the East side of Raleigh there are about 2 to 4 inches of sandy topsoil over the red clay base. Mulching with the oak, maple, and sweet gum leaves, as well as pine straw, improves the moisture retention and drainage of the soil, decreases weeds, and as it decomposes, releases nutrients into the soil.

You can easily create a compost pile in the rear of your back yard by just piling the leaves and turning them a few times during the Summer. Or purchase a simple plastic compost bin for about $50 then you can also add your kitchen scraps from the fruit and vegetables you eat. Statistics state we throw away 27% of the food we buy! http://feedingthelandfill.webnode.com/food-waste-statistics/