Tuesday, June 5, 2012

trying my hand at ginger!

there are a few foods that we eat daily here at the Manor...they are: fresh ginger, fresh garlic, fresh, unpasteurized honey and apple cider vinegar with the Mother in it. why, you ask? because each of these things are considered super foods but when you combine them....are you ready for it? they become a natural antibiotic. can you believe that?!?!?!!?

trust me - these items taken every day combat all kinds of illnesses - but, sadly, they don't work on migraines - rats!

needless to say, we consume ginger, garlic, honey and apple cider vinegar every day. sometimes several times a day. whenever we eat salad, i make a dressing out of the above ingredients with some olive oil. whatever i am cooking, be it slow-cooker roast, roast chicken, beef stew or cabbage rolls - those 4 ingredients get added. they get added to almost everything - except maybe not to grilled cheese sandwiches - that would be kind of gross - and we love grilled cheese sandwiches - teehee!

we have access to locally-sourced apple cider vinegar and unpasteurized honey...we grow our own garlic...but what about ginger??? this will be our first year attempting to grow our own ginger. we have been on the look-out for organic ginger with little nubs on it for a while now...i will explain the little nubs in a bit. jambaloney managed to score these organic babies a week ago. have a look-see:


see the little nubs below. you want the ginger to have lots of these.



cut up your ginger pieces so that each piece has at least one nub. 


then you want to plant them in your very best soil. i am starting the majority of the ginger pieces in pots on the porch. once they actually grow i will transplant them out into the garden.


bury your ginger pieces in a hole that is about 1 and 1/2 times their size. water frequently, keep warm until proper summer arrives, and then transplant them into your garden. you should be harvesting your ginger by the end of your growing season. treat them like garlic - save your best rhizomes for overwintering for the following year's harvest.


if this works out, we'll never buy ginger again! and i pray that my friend Wendy has wild ginger growing in her forest garden. if so, i'll get some - woohoo! i love wild ginger!

and what is jambaloney up to on this fine, rainy, grey day, you ask? good question! why my man is out making us some money - woohoo! his IT skills are in serious demand right now at our local lobster harbour. he went out to help them with some computer issues last week and they called and asked him to come back in today. they have some work for him to do over the summer - and he is building quite a reputation with the local businesses. he is soon going to be known as "the computer guy". he is certainly not being paid what he used to earn back in the city - but such is small town life. and every little bit of extra money earned, especially when living on a fixed income, is such a great bonus!

i am so proud of him. he is a dream-boat i tell you!

34 comments:

  1. We don't use many spices in our food. Sometimes seasoning salt. We have started to use Mrs dash. a combo of different spices. Thanks for the update.
    So Jamie is an IT Wizard ?? Yep a true pirate.

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    1. Rob, buddy - back in the city he was a seriously-high paid IT wizard - and ya - he is a true pirate!!!!

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  2. Good luck with your ginger. And huzzah for the extra income. Always a blessing.

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    1. Phelan - have you ever tried to grow ginger? if so - any tips? and thanks for the huzzah - you and i both know it, gurl! xoxoxoxo

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    2. Lol! You thanked me then. . .

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    3. Never grown it on purpose as we don't use a lot of it. Something I figured I could go without. But have grown it on accident. Sorry, no tips.

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  3. Fresh ginger...you lucky girl. Good for jamie. Pretty soon he'll open a store front business...and miss out on the fishing if he isn't careful.

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    1. ya - dear sweet one - we have been pretty lucky in most of our endeavours! no way on the store front - being known as "the computer guy" is bad enough!

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  4. Good luck with the ginger... I tried growing it once and had nominal success. So I will wait to see how it goes for you before I get the bug to try it again. :o)

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    1. Yart - thanks - i am really hoping that this will work out - i'll keep you updated!

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  5. We eat a lot of ginger too and I've never once thought about growing my own. I need to remedy that situation.

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    1. Ed - this year i am trying ginger and lemongrass. i had some lemon grass seed and i actually got it to germinate - woohoo!

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  6. Sweet Kymber,
    I love fresh ginger. Tank came home one day from work with a partial ginger plant that was going to be tossed in the trash.
    I cut off all the dried up and dead stuff, planted the roots with some leaves in a 5 gallon bucket and now it's flowering. I'm going to give it sometime, then try to harvest some of the root.
    The plant loves the sun and the bee's love the flowers. This plant now stands approximately 3 - 4 foot tall.
    I'm going to write down the mixture of garlic, honey, apple cider vineger and ginger mixture in my little journal for medicinal purposes (thanks for sharing).

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    1. Also, I wanted to say congrats to Jambaloney on the IT job!

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    2. hey Sandy - we love fresh ginger too! score for you on getting the plant flowering - oh and i am super glad that you mention that the bees love it - i can't wait to see if i can get any of these to become a "plant". let me know when you harvest your ginger. and jambaloney says thanks a bunch!

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    3. I will let you know. Hi back to Jambaloney :-)

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  7. I tried the ginger (you know that tea we talked about awhile back) I had it strong enough to walk the dog and used it for quite a while like that, but can't say it helped with the headaches.

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    1. Matt - with the kinds of headaches we get, everything is hit and miss. sorry the tea didn't work for you, buddy!

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  8. kymber - Growing ginger is dead easy. But I suspended the rhizomes above water until they had produced some roots. (http://ecofootprintsa.blogspot.com/2010/10/ginger-zingiber-officinale.html) Now I've got ginger growing all over the place LOL

    LOVE it too!

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    1. Dani - thanks for the link - i have never seen anyone root ginger like that?!?!?!? next time i get another good piece, i will give your way a try - too cool!

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  9. Hey Sis - I should start using your natural antibiotic method in my every day cooking around here too. I've heard about the natural healing properties in each of these powerful foods.

    I know you don't need any luck with growing your ginger - as I know you have the magic touch !!! You'll have enough ginger to feed all of Cape Breton soon.

    Extra money - yippeee - that's always a good thing ! Congrats my dear ones !

    I'll write you later - or I was thinking of calling. When would be a good time ?

    Love you tons and tons !!!!!! xoxoxoxo

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    1. teeheehee....that was an awesome chat and i am looking forward to our next one! yes - use the natural antibiotic in as much food as you can - it will keep my sis and family healthy and strong. i'm really hoping this ginger will take off as we eat a ton of it! and ya - the man earning some extra money sure does help! love you tons and tons back! xoxoxoxo

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  10. My neighbor hussled over some fresh ginger when I was nauseated. She brewed a tea, made me chew some while I waited, and my throat revolted. Just can't tolerate the taste.

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    1. lotta joy - i would never recommend that you chew on ginger if you don't like the taste. best thing to do is to sip a weak tea and then hide the ginger in a variety of food.

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  11. I'll be honest. As much cooking, including gourmet, that I do, I'd never used FRESH ginger until I met EJ, who uses it in a lot of his cooking. Marinades, rubs, stir fry, putting in the cavity of a roast chicken with some oil and herbs, in tea. Wow.

    Thanks for sharing the information on it. I'm definately a new fan.

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    1. Brigid - i am glad that EJ uses it in his cooking - it really is good for you! and i am glad that you are a new fan of ginger, too!

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  12. Ginger root is one of those items that you can bring up to the register of your supermarket and have the cashier look at you like your trying to play some sort of trick on them.

    What is that?

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    1. Russell - i have had that exact thing happen - bahahahahah!

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  13. Good morning! You know the other day I posted about naturalizing some edible plants and this would be awesome to do that with. Thanks for the tip.

    And congrats to Jambaloney! First "King", now "Computer Guy". He keeps racking up the titles! LOL!!!! ;-)

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    1. hey 1st Man - ginger would be a great addition to your naturalizing project - good luck! jambaloney says thanks for the congrats! and ya - he is racking up those titles - bahahahha!

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  14. "trying my hand at ginger!"

    You look just fine as a brunette...

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    1. North, buddy - that had me rolling on the floor - thanks buddy!

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  15. You are both braniacs....in all different ways, including the creative.

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  16. I am no IT person, but I have acquaintances who are afraid to defrag and will pay me to do it. (I also do harder things, too.)I did not set out to have friends pay me. But, this guy begged me. He had had three bona fide IT friends work on his computer and three sort-of-smart people, one of whom spoke German. I got his computer up and running after three years, AND I made his copier speak English, not the German directions it gave him. So, for the first time in three years, he could copy...lol.

    One night about 10;30, he begged me to drive the three miles to his house and punch one button. Well, he did not know what to do and refused to punch the button I told him to. I sat there for three minutes and left. As I did, he peeled off a $20. That was not bad for the ten minutes I was gone from my home. Now, I wish I had gone into IT!

    I was willing to teach this guy for free and left detailed, written instructions that he refused to follow. Thank goodness for people who refuse to benefit from free help.

    Since your expenses are somewhat less, working for less is not so painful, I imagine. A good reputation for IT work is a good thing for him. Money is good.

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