Turmeric and Ginger is Mega Healthy and it's Easy to Grow

Welcome to The Cherry On Top.

Thank you for joining us for another foodie edition. If you've been following The Cherry, you know I've been trying to garden and grow my own food for years and I'm still not very good at it. In my experience, there are very few fruit and veg that are fail proof. Boo! Hehehe... I've read hundreds of times how easy it is to grow onions, leek, garlic, carrots, spinach...No way, man. I'm yet to grow these vegetables successfully, but I won't give up.

Two of the few things I've been able to grow recently are ginger and turmeric which I thought was curcumin. That's what they call it in Europe, but it turns out that curcumin is in turmeric. Hmmm...I only started purchasing turmeric a year or 2 ago because I read that's it's so great for us, which I'll address in a bit.

Freshly made ginger ale is crazy easy to make, kind'a.

The price of ginger has come down considerably and so it has become a permanent feature in my drawer, next to my potatoes. Keep them both in a dry, dark place. Recently, I've been able to find curcumin/turmeric at a shop here and there. Often in a local Turkish shop and some major grocers in Germany. If I spot it in an organic section or organic shop, I'll grab it from there, preferably.

Once upon a time, my hubs bought a huge portion of ginger when I already had a bunch in the drawer. Normally, I was using ginger in my wok and Asian dishes. I read that it had amazing health benefits when consumed in an infusion. I'll give ya some tips on how to use it in infusions, later. So, I had all of this ginger that I knew I wouldn't be able to use the way I've always have and went to Pinterest to see what else I could do with ginger. To my delight I found a ginger ale recipe. Ginger ale is delicious and rather pricey in my area and I'm sure it is not nearly as healthy if healthy at all than making it fresh.

One of the many things I do on this blog, is tell ya about my failures because those are important too, right? The very first time I made my ginger bug and ginger ale, it went fantastic, but since my first batch, I cannot, for the life of me do it, again. I have no idea why this is. I've tried to make a ginger bug three times since with no luck. Perhaps they spray or treat the ginger in a way that deactivates the fizzy fermenting process? I always scrub my fruit and veg and often use vinegar to clean them, but not these two. If you have any ideas why I can't get the fizz in my ginger bug, share them in the comments.

In this image is turmeric that I grew in a pot. It was just a tiny piece.

When you purchase these items and store them in a dark place, they often start to grow new growth. You can slice a nice piece of the rhizome with this new bud and plant it in a sunny or well lit place and it will grow. Cool, eh?

Pictured below are the beautiful, green leaves from tumeric in my window box. When you grow ginger and or tumeric, you'll see how they are in the same family. I cannot tell the two apart when in the ground. I'm fairly sure the one in the ground is ginger, but don't hold me to that. You can grow it in a window, in a green house or if you live where it's warmer, in the ground outside or if you don't care that it dies in winter. Mine stayed beautiful in my green house until the temperatures lowered around freezing for several weeks straight.

Isn't the greenery amazing? I was so impressed and in love, I thought even if I don't get any roots or rhizomes (?) it's still so darn pretty. If you're into making planted pot compositions, these two lovelies will give your grouping some serious height. These guys are nearly a meter tall and they are only growing in a few inches of soil.

It's so cool that you can plant it in the ground or in a pot and have success. A few months ago, I blogged about what to plant in a garden shared with chickens. I let my gals have at the green house this winter when everything was nearly dead and they left the ginger and tumeric alone. This might be an exception, but it was our experience.

So far we know that ginger and tumeric is very easy to grow. Ya need some warmth, light and soil and you can plant it in a pot or in the ground. It doesn't require a ridiculous amount of water, which makes it even easier still.

Like many other plants, when the leaves begin to yellow, you can harvest. My first tumeric harvest, pictured at the top of this entry, wasn't very orange or gold and the flavor was very mild. This could be good if you're not really crazy about the flavor of it.

To make a healthy infusion, thinly slice some ginger and tumeric, do a partial grind of black pepper from your mill and if you like, add some honey. The black pepper enhances the absorption of the curcuma. Ya really don't even taste the pepper. Pour a cup or two of boiling hot water over your ingredients or just simmer it all in a pot on the stove. I make it on our wood stove. Let it simmer for at least 5 minutes. I often keep adding water to my pan and let it sit all day whilst I grab a cup every hour or so. 

You can add lemon if you like and maybe even lime. I have made a delicious infusion with lime, ginger, mint and honey.

Here are a few things you can do with ginger and or tumeric:

infusions

Asian dishes like stir fry or curries

make ginger ale from a ginger bug

cough drops

iced tea

kombucha

shots

dressings

mocktails

soups

smoothies

hummus

facial scrubs

pain relief balm

tumeric butter for skin

golden milk (drink) sounds delicious

That's me just quickly accessing my Pinterest board using the word ginger in a search. Besides the beautiful greenery, the ease of growing them, the topical purposes, we still haven't got to the other health benefits. I'll hit you up with another list.

Ginger and or Tumeric:

promotes digestion

reduces inflammation

helps protect the respiratory system

provides cardio vascular support

relieves nausea

eases muscle pain

boosts metabolism

supports brain function

aids in balancing blood sugar

antioxidant

aids detoxification

lowers blood pressure

increases energy levels

improves circulation

helps fight cancer

blocks heartburn

soothes menstrual cramps

improve libido (Yowza!)

prevent bacterial and fungal infections

improve sleep

aid eye health

positive mood

improve liver function

migraine relief

reduce stress

helps with acne

Holy, crap! That is a lot of awesome, right there.

You can do your own research or hit up your holistic doctor for more information. Pinterest is my go to place for ideas. See if any of our boards might be good for ya.

I hope this may help you out. Oh! I should have mentioned that not everyone loves the taste of ginger or tumeric. I highly advise using just a little in the beginning and as you get used to it, add more. That's what I did. I thought it tasted weird, earthy.

Hit up this blog for information and growing tips on aloe and this free printable.

Thanks for stopping by The Cherry.