In October I came across some growers taking on ginger as a market garden crop, even in northern regions. This is especially interesting because a) I love making homemade ginger ale, and b) local grocers tell me it is nearly impossible to source outside of Asia or South American imports. It is also very efficient as leaves are great for teas, stems for soups/stews (used similar to lemongrass), and the root is extremely fragrant and potent when fresh, and does not require peeling.
Typically a very tropical plant, it does come with some challenges in our climate, however so far we have been quite successful in sprouting and starting it indoors, and have already potted up several sets of shoots from our trial started in late October, from the same rhizomes.
It remains to be seen how well it does when planted outdoors in the spring but I’m optimistic. If successful, first priority will be given to subscribers, and if extra is available after that it will be offered for weekly pre-order from our online store, likely in September.
After our early success with ginger we did try turmeric as well, since it grows similarly from rhizomes. So far we have not seen any shoots and think the quality of the rhizomes may not have been adequate to get good growth, but we’ll give it another week or two before we know for sure. So far we’ve had more interest in ginger than turmeric anyways, so unless that changes we may continue to focus on ginger for 2021.