I don't know that you need to age it though it doesn't seem to lose flavor as it ages. I don't harvest the parts that look green, just the older ones.

I just did a search and the article says that the green ginger is OK but will have less developed flavor. Full flavor comes from tubers where the leaves have died.

I'm gonna try this soon, also want to grow turmeric a relative.

So what ginger is edible?
My grandson eats the buds off the red button ginger.I wasnt sure which of the roots are used.
tanya

Tanya, I just bought a healthy looking piece of ginger at the grocery store and laid it in a pot of soil. Potting soil, but that's what I had on hand. Within a week or two, there were little green shoots growing straight up. From the photos I've seen, the 'knuckle' - I don't know what it's proper name is - grows above ground. The plant is quickly filling the pot it's in, so I expect to see more 'knuckles' very soon.
cora

The ginger you are growing is Zingiber officianale. Its the most common food ginger and the one grown for the supermarket.

Just remember... almost all Zingibers (there are some exceptions but Z. officianale is not one of them) are deciduous. They will die back in the cooler, drier winter, even if it doesn;t freeze. THIS is when they do all their tuber multiplying, and you can harvest the tubers in early spring before the plant resprouts leaves and get the 'older' ginger you are after. The inflorescense with the flowers is the little 'knuckle' that pops up. Not terribly impressive in this particular plant. These are teh cousins of the larger Shampoo gingers (aka Pinecone Ginger)

Thanks, everyone!
bihai, I printed out your reply to add to my "gardening book of knowledge". Simply a loose leaf binder to contain those odds and ends of info I find about those plants I actually have.
cora

Useful information on this post :) I have a large potful that I have been meaning to put in the ground. Some of the tubers have lost thier leaves over the last few yrs and then it grew new tubers and leaves. So now I know I can just harvest those old tubers next time we make Orange Chicken and stir fry lol.

OH, YEAH!! Toss an extra drumstick in the wok for me!! My fondness for Thai and all Oiental food is what drove me to grow ginger (and lemon grass) in the first place.

My teenage son was crazy for Orange Chicken so he started making his own and it is really good, better than any Asian restaraunt's I've tried so far. I was shocked because he never cooked anything before lol.
I had lemon grass last spring that I bought in a 4 inch pot that got taller than me by the end of the summer. It froze during the winter because I left it in the ground. It did okay until we hit in the teens. It did not return. I've got to find some more. I think I got mine at an Ace Hardware in Mandarin last time.
~sjn

jasmine, I'll be glad to send you a healthy start of lemon grass for the cost of postage. just email me your snail mail address.
cora

duh! Jasmine, didn't notice that you're in Mandarin. Could we just meet somewhere between Mandarin and Arlington and I'll give you the lemon grass. We can spend the postage on lunch!
cora

Incase anyone wants to try simple Chinese style Ginger Chicken:
4 chicken thighs (boneless, skinless)
1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
1 tbsp wine (any kind)
1 tsp honey
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
pinch of ground black pepper

Mix all in ziplock bag making sure meat is covered with marinade. Leave in fridge for 4 hrs. Then BBQ or cook in flat pan.

fern

thanks for the recipe smallfern i have the lemongrass you gave me at the Swap right near the kitchen door.
Ginger still confuses me.

I have heard a lot of folks say in the past that they are not certain which gingers are edible. I don't by any means have a comprehensive list, but these I know are:

The Z. officianale mentioned above (supermarket ginger)

Alpinia galangal...this is the one that is used a lot in Thai cooking and is usually found dried. Its the ginger used in Tom Kah Gah and the coconut milk soup. Its also hardy here in zone 8B the topgrowth will die back in a freeze but the rhizomes are hardy and it comes back

Curcuma longa...this is turmeric. ALso hardy here in 8B, also truly deciduous.

I have heard some folks say that they know people who have eaten the rhizomes of Hedychiums (butterfly gingers), but to my knowledge I have never seen or heard for them called for in the recipes of any ethnic cooking and have never tried them.

As an aside, when we first moved here to FL from Los Angeles in the early 90's, our new vet told us to be careful with our dog because the red pinecones of the Pinecone Ginger that is grown all over the place here (Zingiber zerumbet) is toxic to dogs if they eat it. It contains some sort of alkaloids that will hurt them and apparently some dogs seem to like to chew on the pinecone inflos. This is also the part of this ginger that people say can be used as a 'natural shampoo' which causes it to have its other common name, SHampoo Ginger.

Oh, boy, gotta try the tumeric!

my dogs have ate all my lemon grass.....don't mess with the gingers. big one even taught the little one "gator" to eat it.....not much left.

Wallisadi, I don't know if my dog would eat lemon grass or not. She WILL dig up anything I plant, so I bought some rabbit fence which is 4' high, cut it in half and fenced my garden. Two feet is tall enough to deter my little poodle but low enough for me to step over.
cora

Hi corar, Thank you so much for the offer but I did get a small start of lemongrass from Ace. There is an awesome ACE in Mandarin that has some really nice plants. I just got a 3 gallon Mojito colocasia for 12 dollars too. It is so big it should be in a 5 gallon. Last year I found variegated monsteras and medinilla scortechinii for about the same price. I don't live in Mandarin I just get over there once in awhile lol.

I think I read somewhere that all gingers are edible to humans, just not all taste good enough to eat. :o)

It is so easy to grow, just buy a healthy piece from the store and plant just slightly covered with soil and wait.

Bihai had some good info. I live in Jax and also grow zingiber officianale from the grocery store, as well as turmeric and galangal. The turmeric is really vigorous where it stays moist, but the common ginger likes a well drained situation. I'm growing them with lemongrass as well, and can't wait to use them in my thai cooking! By the way, my dog doesn't eat any of these plants, but he does like to trample on my many kinds of ginger. Oh well.

jaxtropix, would you be willing to swap a start of the tumeric and galangal? Other than some rather common herbs (most of which are trying to bolt) I have fiddle leaf fig (ficus), loads of spider lilly and crinum, rain lilly, and a few ceramic plant markers and planters I've made. Also lots of seeds, too many to list here.
cora

corar:
Definitely! My galangal is still brand new so its pretty small, so the start will be small too. I can give you a decent sized rhizome of the turmeric though, since it goes crazy in my swampy backyard. Email me at steve_asbell@yahoo.com and we can set up a trade!