Ginger

I've been patiently waiting for what seemed to be the appropriate time to harvest my ginger. I bought a Thai ginger plant some time last year & following the instructions stuck it somewhere where it wouldn't hurt for it to become prolific, sat back & Googled some directions on what to do with it. According to one source (I'm sorry I can't quote it as it was some time ago now, and at the time I never dreamed I would be writing about it) I could "harvest" it anytime from about April through till almost September, but leaving it longer apparently results in the ginger being hotter. The tell tale sign of when to dig up the fragrant roots coincides with the leaves yellowing off & turning brown. I'm not one for overly 'hot' dishes, so I didn't want to wait too long, but my leaves didn't seem to want to change colour either. So I've been waiting & waiting for a sign. Today was the day! Yellow leaves from the tips. And then, it poured rain!!!!Not one to be detered, especially after waiting forever, I took the opportunity presented by a break in the downpour & off I went.

Wow, nothing could have prepared me for the amount of roots I got from my one little plant, all hidden under a canopy of leaf fall, & just waiting to be snapped freshly off. I washed the excess dirt off, and ideally would have liked to dry them out in the sun, but it's not to be today, so instead I brought them inside to rest on a teatowel & dry out.

In addition, today was special as we had our new home stay daughter (high school children who come to study english from overseas) and her sister come to stay at the shack overnight. Today, regardless of the rain, we went for a walk along the beaches, and had a pasta for lunch topped with fabulous tomato & herb mixture(basil, parsley, rocket, garlic chives) picked fresh straight out of the garden. It's moments like these I feel rewarded for the work that has gone in and look forward to making it a larger part of my everyday life.