The Tale of Two Rhizomes

Ginger: This spicy flavoring is essential in a lot of our meals. Although we don't live in the optimal growing range because of winter freezing, we are still going to try it out! I bought organic ginger and cut it into 5 pieces, each with several sprouting tips. Conventionally grown ginger is often treated to prohibit sprouting. Soaking the rhizome overnight supposedly helps overcome this effect. We planted three pieces in a pot that can easily be protected from cold weather by bringing it inside. Two pieces were planted into the garden, about 2" deep in an area that will be sheltered from the harsh afternoon shade. We'll see what happens...

Ginger cut into 5 pieces

Each piece has several growing points, as seen in the center of this photo

Sunchoke (aka Jerusalem Artichoke): We started 3 rhizomes last January - 2 bought at the grocery store and 1 from a plant nursery. They all did great with no noticeable differences. They grew multiple 8' tall stalks with repeat blooms of sunflowers at the tops. The tall vegetation died back in the fall. After a few freezes had come through the area, we began harvesting the sweetened rhizomes. We tried them sliced raw in salads and pureed into a soup, but our favorite has been to roast them with a variety of other vegetables. With the weather warming, we knew that we should harvest anything remaining before it starts sprouting. We found buried treasure! We dug up as much as we had harvested already throughout the winter. Unfortunately, as they store best in the soil, we'll have to eat these pretty quickly. Tonight we're going to substitute them for water chestnuts in our stir-fry!

Scrubbed sunchokes reveal their golden beauty