I get both of these roots from a health food store here in Iowa. The turmeric sprouts readily and makes an excellent house plant though it does go dormant for a few winter months. See my post in conversations "turmeric root experiment". Ginger is a tougher subject. I have tried twice and while I do get some growth I cannot get it to survive the long northern winter as a house plant. This year I am trying wintering it in a cold 35 F garage .

I'm pretty new to growing anything from seed... but fresh Ginger sounds awesome! Would you be interested in a trade for some ginger seed? Honestly I haven't logged on in a while and I am unsure of what's on my trade list. I definitely do not remember how to edit it... lol. I can say I have black magic elephant ears, a variety of caladium, as well as whatever is listed on my trades... Shoot me an email if you'd like, righthandred@gmail.com

I've grown ginger before, but I'm a complete newbie to turmeric. Accordingly, I have a whole bunch of questions! When I plant my turmeric rhizomes, which I have already bought, how deep do the roots go? I suspect they don't need a lot of depth. Maybe someone can fill me in on this point? I also read a lot how to cook turmeric and turn it into a powder. Is it ever eaten fresh? If the leaves and flowers are equally edible, are there recipes for this? Do they have to be cooked first? I've been reading up on it, and I know that turmeric is a very tender tropical, so here in Connecticut, it will come inside and be dormant for the winter. Tips on culture and use will be greatly appreciated--thanks! --Rick in CT

I have heard a lot of folks say in the past that they are not certain which gingers are edible. I don't by any means have a comprehensive list, but these I know are: The Z. officianale mentioned above (supermarket ginger) Alpinia galangal...this is the one that is used a lot in Thai cooking and is usually found dried. Its the ginger used in Tom Kah Gah and the coconut milk soup. Its also hardy here in zone 8B the topgrowth will die back in a freeze but the rhizomes are hardy and it comes back Curcuma longa...this is turmeric. ALso hardy here in 8B, also truly deciduous. I have heard some folks say that they know people who have eaten the rhizomes of Hedychiums (butterfly gingers), but to my knowledge I have never seen or heard for them called for in the recipes of any ethnic cooking and have never tried them. As an aside, when we first moved here to FL from Los Angeles in the early 90's, our new vet told us to be careful with our dog because the red pinecones of the Pinecone Ginger that is grown all over the place here (Zingiber zerumbet) is toxic to dogs if they eat it. It contains some sort of alkaloids that will hurt them and apparently some dogs seem to like to chew on the pinecone inflos. This is also the part of this ginger that people say can be used as a 'natural shampoo' which causes it to have its other common name, SHampoo Ginger.