Ginger - It's Uses and Grow Your Own

Ginger is a herb that is well know throughout the world, but not much is known about it and what benefits it possesses? Did you know you can grow your own in your kitchen?

Young ginger is juicy with a mild taste. They can be pickled in vinegar or even sherry and eaten as a snack. Most ginger is used as an ingredient in many dishes. Ginger can also be used in boiling water to make ginger tea and accompanied by honey to sweeten it.

Older ginger is fibrous and lack moisture. Old ginger roots are very powerful and are used as a spice in Indian and Chinese dishes for flavour. The dishes that suit this are seafood or goat and many vegetarian recipes. There is the powdered version of ginger root, which is used in gingerbread and many other bread and cake dishes.

Ginger is well suited contender for making candy with many carbonated, non-alcoholic beverages using the unique ginger flavour and of course the famous ginger beer which is popular worldwide containing a minimal amount of alcohol as the original recipe involves some fermentation.

Fresh ginger should always be peeled before using in cooking. when storing for up to three months in a freezer if wrapped in a towel and put in a plastic bag.

Ginger is a very useful herb in medical uses. It used to be called 'Jamaica ginger' used as a stimulant with additional use for treating dyspepsia and colic. The taste of conventional medicines where often horrible and ginger was used to disguise this. Moving on, ginger also decreases joint pain from arthritis with the properties believed to thin the blood blood and lower cholesterol therefore effective for treating heart disease.

Ginger also treats Diarrhea and Nausea including seasickness, morning sickness and is especially effective if you have a hangover. Ginger eaten on an empty stomach is an effective cure for congestion, coughs and colds. And for settling stomachs ginger ale or ginger beer have been used for centuries. Ginger water was used to avoid getting heat cramps in America. Ginger has also been historically used to treat inflammation. More recently, treatment with ginger on rats indicate that the herb may be useful for treating diabetes.

You can buy ginger in most big supermarkets in all forms, fresh, dried and powdered. But did you know that you can grow your own? With spring coming up buy some fresh ginger in the shops. Make sure they have 'fingers' the show buds and cut off at least 5cm from the bud. Bury it bud facing upwards in a around 20cm depth of compost in a pot mixed with a little sand. Keep in a warm place and make sure it stays moist. When it get larger transfer it to a bigger pot. It will need feeding with a general pot-plant feeder. When autumn arrived stop watering and let them dry out. When dry you will have you own home grown ginger that you can use in the kitchen.

Sage not just a Memory

I always remember sage grown in the garden from my childhood. The scent was overpowering and a great fascination took hold with all my own gardens now having to have the herb in place. It is always going to be fresher and infinitely cheaper than buying it from a supermarket.

The Common sage is also known as Garden sage, Kitchen Sage and Dalmatian sage is a perennial evergreen shrub type herb. It has woody stems, greyish green leaves with purple flowers. It is native to the Mediterranean region but its popularity has led it to be cultivated throughout many other regions, especially the Balkans where they distil the herb for its essential oil.

Sage has a mysterious side to it and is used for spiritual and supernatural purposes. Performing exorcism and the burning of sage is believed to drive out evil and demons. Sage is also used extensively in the practices of Witchcraft and associated cults.

With a slight peppery flavour, sage it is used for flavouring meats with a large fatty content including marinades. It is also used in cheeses and drinks. Sage is popular added to onion for poultry or pork stuffing and also in sauces. The French use sage for cooking white meat dishes and in vegetable soups with the Germans producing many sausage dishes. The most famous use of sage in sausages is the English Lincolnshire sausage. In the Balkan countries and the Middle East sage is commonly used when roasting lamb or mutton.

Fresh sage can be used to make sage butter and if you collect the young leaves you can make a sage vinegar. If you tie together some sage, thyme, parsley, marjoram and a bay leaf you have a Bouquet Garni.

Sage Vinegar Recipe

Ingredients

Sage leaves, (1 cup) washed and chopped royghly (about 3 good handfuls)
600 ml white wine vinegar

Method

Put the prepared sage into a sterilised jar and pour in the vinegar.
Put the cap on and leave to stand on a sunny windowsill for one month shaking once a day.
Using muslin, strain the sage vinegar into a sterilized bottle, add a fresh sprig of sage and seal.
You can now use this and store in you larder.

Sage Butter Recipe

For Sage butter simple heat the butter gently until soft and mix in thoroughly finely cut sage. Roll it up and wrap in clingfilm. It can be used for a topping on hot vegetables or simple spread on toast.

Sage actual means “to heal" coming from the old Latin text. Throughout history sage been thought to cure every ailment. Modern science now supports its effects as an antibiotic, anti-fungal and tonic. Sage is now found to aid moderate Alzheimer's disease.

For internal medical use its benefits range from indigestion, liver complaints, anxiety, depression, female sterility and menopausal problems as well as treating joint pain. Insect bites, throat, mouth, gum and skin infections are now also proved to benefit from the properties of sage.

Finally, a quote from a famous man who also seemingly had a passion and believe not only for human rights but for sage.

Why should a man die whilst sage grows in his garden? - Martin Luther King

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