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In the Garden – Growing Ginger and Turmeric

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I got my very modest first ginger harvest from a small plant plug purchased from an online supplier. The experiment gave me a taste of what was possible and although I skipped a year of growing it I knew I would try again. This first batch of ginger was frozen before going into our first batch of fire cider – find that post here.

Layla harvesting ginger and turmeric. Roots are snipped off into a wheelbarrow full of greenery. White stones, wooden raised beds, and green lawn in background.
Close up on hands holding ginger plant with stalks and leaves, snipping off roots into a wheelbarrow full of greenery. White stones and deck stairs in background.
Close up on hands holding ginger plant with stalks and leaves, washing dirt off of roots. Grey gravel in background.
Close up on hands holding ginger plant with stalks and leaves. White stones, wooden raised beds, whisky barrels, and metal planter on edge of stone driveway in background.

I’ve previously grown ginger from a tiny started plant that cost a fortune, but with the new grow light setup and some extra time (a few months ahead of other plant starts) I decided to try sprouting ginger and garlic purchased from the store. They took a while and I lost a few after transplanting (unclear if chipmunks or wet/dry conditions bc the bed I lost them in has some thriving right next to ones I lost)

Ginger roots nestled in dirt in growing tray with roots exposed. Resting on heating mat.
Turmeric roots nestled in dirt in growing tray with roots exposed. Resting on heating mat.
Growing tray full of dirt under growing lights with a small green leaf emerging.
Growing tray full of dirt under growing lights with a green leaves emerging.
Shelf with multiple growing trays full of dirt under growing lights with green leaves emerging. Grow trays on top shelf have clear plastic top.
Growing tray full of dirt under growing lights with a green leaves growing 6-8 inches above the soil.
Growing tray full of dirt under growing lights with a green leaves emerging.
Growing tray full of dirt under plastic cover and growing lights with a green sprout just peeking through dirt.

Growing outdoors in Zone 5/6

Ginger and turmeric plants transplanted from grow trays to wooden raised beds in garden. Plants and dark mulch are visible. Green lawn in background.
Ginger and Turmeric plants grow in wooden raised bed in garden. White stone paths, wood raised beds, white plastic row hoops, wooden trellis, and forest are in background.

Harvesting before frost

Ginger and turmeric plants are dug out of the wood raised garden bed. Plants lay on surface of dirt with roots exposed. Garden tools and white stone in background.
Ginger and turmeric plants are dug out to harvest and placed in a black metal basket with a wooden handle. White stone background.
Ginger and turmeric plants are dug out to harvest and placed in a black metal basket with a wooden handle. White stone background.
A hand holds a ginger plant, showing the yellow/white/red colored root. In background ginger and turmeric plants are placed in a black metal basket with a wooden handle. White stone background.

Follow our journey in growing and share in our experience and lessons learned from nature with more posts from In the Garden

In the Garden – Citrus Trees in Pots

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Wooden raised bed garden beds with green foliage and white stone in foreground. Two conical wicker hanging baskets with purple and white flowers hanging from black cast iron hooks on white posts supporting a patio in background. Citrus trees of varying heights in ceramic pots sit on stacked stone wall in front of patio.

Overwintering Citrus

Our first year here I tried and failed with citrus, it took me years to get the nerve to try again. Things I learned as a gardener and houseplant enthusiast that helped me successfully overwinter these two trees.

  • citrus specific soil – I now use cactus mix amended with perlite and citrus fertilizer
  • grow light – I just don’t think there is enough natural light in our home for citrus to hold their leaves or stay happy and adding a grow bulb to my winter spot for them has helped them to even flower indoors
  • check for pests and catch them early – citrus are really really prone to them and they show up only when brought indoors
  • water – drainage was an issue with my previous plants, and they enjoy a heavy watering with plenty running through the container. They really prefer to fully dry out between waterings. I got a better handle of this by amending the soil with perlite.
a hand lifting a citrus branch with green leaves. Pot with soil in front of window in background.
Two Citrus plants in white ceramic pots sit on a brown wooden bench in front of a window in a room with dark walls, white window trim, and grey curtain. One of the plants is flowering.
a hand lifting a citrus branch with spent blossoms turning into fruit in front of window with white trim in a room with dark walls, and grey curtain.

New Citrus Additions

With the garage addition giving me a space to move these trees indoors I decided to expand my citrus collection. These trees were much larger than the previous ones I had ordered online and a few already came with newly formed fruit.

Three citrus plants standing upright in a brown cardboard shipping box that has had the front cut off, on concrete garage floor. White door and black metal cabinet in background.
a hand lifting a citrus branch with two spent lime blossoms turning into fruit in front of pale green siding
Three citrus plants in shipping plastic pots sitting on gravel patio. Pale green siding to the side and background with wooden patio furniture. Green tub and brown cardboard box in foreground.
Five citrus plants in ceramic pots in foreground with gravel and white posts. Wooden raised bed garden beds with green foliage and white stone in background with pale green shed, grass, and forest.
Citrus trees of varying heights in ceramic pots sit on stacked stone wall in front of patio in foreground. Wooden raised bed garden beds with green foliage and white stone in background.

Lime watch 2024

while the original two fruit grew this tree surprisingly flowered and set another fruit during the summer!

a hand lifting a citrus branch in front of white gravel background
a hand lifting a citrus branch with two green limes in front of white gravel background
a hand lifting a citrus branch with a flower in front of white gravel background
a hand lifting a citrus branch with a small newly formed lime in front of white gravel background
a hand lifting a citrus branch with two green limes in front of white gravel background

Harvest

It wasn’t so easy to tell the first ripe lime did start changing color and felt soft but not obviously ripe until it burst. So now that we know what to look for – a slight yellowing and softening of skin in this variety we will hopefully be able to time future harvests. you can see the unripe fruit on tree is much deeper green.

a hand lifting a citrus branch with two green limes (one split). Citrus tree with an unripe lime and white gravel in background
a hand lifting a citrus branch with two green limes. Citrus tree with an unripe lime and white gravel in background

Follow our journey in growing and share in our experience and lessons learned from nature with more posts from In the Garden

DIY – installing hooks for hanging baskets

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It took a long time to find a spot for hanging baskets somewhere in the garden and the new patio area felt like the perfect spot. I debated adding them to the shed but wanted something bigger and felt they would dwarf a smaller structure. In general I’m not a big annual flower person beyond the cutting garden, they are too high maintenance and we have a lot of projects and work so I prefer perennials. I’ve even been looking for the perfect perennials that do well in containers to reduce the amount of work in those, so these supertunia and superbell hanging baskets are the exception.

Cast iron hooks

We’ve got a few repeated themes throughout the house and gardens both to keep things consistent but also to keep the space cohesive. Here I found 12” cast iron hooks that would extend far enough out to accommodate the basket size we were looking for. I marked the hole placement and Josh followed and installed them. Notice the mess of maple seeds in our gutters, that’s only one spring of seed drop! We cleaned it as part of this project.

Josh on ladder holding screwdriver about to finish installing a cast iron hook. Patio in background on the right, garden and shed in background on the left
Josh on ladder holding drill about to finish installing a cast iron hook.
newly installed black cast iron hooks on white posts supporting a patio with patio furniture and dogs on right and garden on the left

Hanging Baskets

Keeping them watered and fertilized ensured continuous blooms. They are still blooming as we go into fall and hummingbirds are visiting daily!

a conical wicker hanging basket with purple and white flowers hanging from black cast iron hook on white wood post
a conical wicker hanging basket with purple and white flowers hanging from black cast iron hook on white wood post with angled view of home and white door behind
a conical wicker hanging basket with purple and white flowers hanging from black cast iron hook on white wood post with view of patio behind
Wooden raised bed garden beds with green foliage and white stone in foreground. a row of conical wicker hanging baskets with purple and white flowers hanging from black cast iron hooks on white posts supporting a patio in background
a row of conical wicker hanging baskets with purple and white flowers hanging from black cast iron hooks on white posts supporting a patio
a row of conical wicker hanging baskets with purple and white flowers hanging from black cast iron hooks on white posts supporting a patio in background. Grass lawn and rock wall are in foreground

Beauty surrounds us, but usually we need to be walking in a garden to know it.

Rumi

Get inspired to do it yourself with more projects in our DIY series.

Follow our journey in growing and share in our experience and lessons learned from nature with more posts from In the Garden

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