Good looking plant Jamus. How exactly do you go about getting the turmeric ready for use? Do you have to dry the rhizomes or what?
Cheers,
Dee.

Hi Deejaus, yes that's right the rhizomes are generally boiled in water and then dried in the sun before being ground into a fine powder. I don't bother drying it, I just use the roots fresh, like ginger. Fresh turmeric is beautiful in cooking.

Thanks Jamus, That would make sense to use it fresh if you have it growing in the garden. I guess drying of herbs and spices is really a way of preserving them for future use (although a few do change somewhat in the process). It seems an interesting plant to grow as it has quite lovely flowers as well. You must have some interesting meals at your place!
Cheers,
Dee.

Plant of the day today is Agastache foeniculum or anise hyssop. Flowering beautifully at the moment, it's not just an ornamental but can be used in food aswell. My kind of plant.

Okay Jamus. My curiosity is aroused. How do you use it in cooking....what sort of foods do you use it with?

Cheers,
Dee.

Well... I chop the very tender young leaves and put them in salads. I use them in a french style sauce for fish with cream, white wine, garlic and balsamic vinegar. I use them sometimes in Asian dishes like stirfry beef and chicken and in Thai style coconut milk based curries if I haven't got any thai basil. The flavour is really very good. :)

Mmmmmm, yum!

Plant of the day today is Humulus lupulus, brewers hops. Appart from their use in brewing beer hops have a long history of use as a medicinal plant and have a mild sedative effect. They are supposed to be good for nervous anxiety and insomnia. They are sometimes included in 'dream pillows'.

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Hi Jamus,

Have you grown hops from seeds at all? If so, do they have to be particularly fresh and how do you go about it? How much space do they need and what growing conditions? I have some seed and don't know if I have the room required.

Cheers,
Dee.

Hi Dee, I grew my hops from a root division which is the normal way to start them. They are so easy to divide that way noone seems to bother with seeds. Another problem with seeds is that hops come in male and female and you really don't want male plants because you wouldn't get the catkins (the whole point of growing hops). It is a fairly vigorous climber and can spread, it needs a tall lattice or support to climb on, even a tree will do, and can go as high as 10 metres or more. You can cut it back to keep it under control, I certainly do with mine. It dies back to the ground every year and then emerges again in the spring. If you'd like to grow it I'd be happy to send you a plant. Jamus.

I've got 3 turmeric plants, one in a pot and 2 in the garden (just started this year). It will flower in a pot about every 2-3 years (if mine is a guide). It always dies right back to ground level in winter, even here in the SE Queensland. It's a bit of a slow starter in spring, but once started, it powers on. I harvest mine in winter, just putting back some of the roots to grow on.

I love it fresh too. I chop it up finely and add it to stirfries and curries, or just with a bowl of microwaved assorted veges. Nice in a spag. bol. sauce, too, or in an Indian or Middle Eastern vegetable dish of most kinds (potatoes especially). The taste is entirely different from the dried powder you usually get.

My plant of the day is Arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea; Canna edulis). I've got mine in a pot because in my tiny courtyard garden, there's nowhere else for it! The roots can be turned into powder, like the commercial one used for thickening, but it's a tedious process. However, it's also quite nice as a padder-outer for potatoes and similar vegetables. The taste is quite bland, but it's good in stews and casseroles and pickles to stretch quantities, and it can be baked. They can also be used in desserts (like apple pie or cobbler) and they can be candied, too.

Medicinal Uses: Once used as a convalescent nutrient, especially for children and the elderly, and particularly in bowel complaints. Mashed rhizomes have been used on wounds from poisoned arrows, scorpion and black spider bites and to halt gangrene. The freshly expressed juice mixed with water is said to be useful as an antidote for vegetable poisons. Combined with chamomile it can be used to treat prickly heat.

Used in talcum powders and hair dyes. Added to moisturisers as a thickening agent and to help active ingredients penetrate the upper levels of the skin. The plant foliage makes an excellent animal fodder.

According to the information I have, you should only use roots which are no older than 1 year (don't know why - probably because they get too fibrous to be useful).

Sorry, I don't have a camera of any kind, so no pix of mine. Mine has never flowered for me.

Here is a link that might be useful: arrowroot

Daisy, beautiful. I'll have to get myself one of those. I love all Cannas but one you can eat is doubly good. I have some powdered arrowroot, but I've never used it for anything. I do like arrowroot biscuits!

Ok my turn

here's what's been diagnosed as Thai basil - a very strong licorice/aniseed flavour to the leaves.

I've no idea how it got in my garden - just one of the odd little things that pop up every now and then.

I've used it on fish - steamed or baked and as an addition to my tomato/basil/vinegar/sugar mix - but I can only use two or three leaves to two handfuls of normal basil as the taste is too strong.

Any other ideas for cooking??
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Hi paradisi, nice specimen. Isn't it fantastic when you get a freebie, unexpectedly like that? I use quite a bit of it, mostly in Thai food, vietnamese, malaysian etc. It's very nice in stirfrys with beef or chicken or seafood. Find a good SE Asian cookbook and everywhere they say 'basil' in a recipe they really mean this one. Charmaine Solomon's complete Asian cookbook is VERY good. Also, make sure you collect some seed!

jamus_s - the thai basil is in a part of the garden that self seeds - - I've also got some "ordinary" basil (can you ever call basil ordinary??) that just grew - it self seeded from some basil I had there so I'm sure that this licorice flavoured basil will keep on keeping on (I hope)

I wonder if it will cross with the ordinary basil? I'll have to watch and see what grows in a couple of months time

I think it will cross, they are the same species (Ocimum basilicum) but I'm not sure which is more persistent, in terms of will the progeny come out more like sweet basil or more like Thai basil? That's a good point you raise because I have several basils in the herb garden, including some hybrids like the Perennial Ocimum basilicum x kilimandscharicum

Hello fellas

Jamus, where would one buy a tumeric plant, do they sell them in nurseries? I use it a lot, but fresh sounds better.

I seem to recall that they sometimes have tumeric in the vege shop, maybe it would grow from the root, like ginger. I think I will give it a go....thanks for getting me thinking.

Hi popi, technically you should be able to grow turmeric from the rhizomes you buy if they are fresh enough. I would worry that they had been in cold storage too long during import. I would be easier to buy a plant, I got mine from Earthcare (see link below). They do mail order and I've always been very happy with the condition and quality of plants from them. All the best with it...

Here is a link that might be useful: earthcare

If you go back to my earlier post, you'll see that I've got turmeric plants grown from pieces of root. Here are a few more details. I can tell you that even old pieces will sprout - as I discovered by accident after dropping a couple of pieces into my fruit bowl, intending to get to it soon, but forgetting about them! They were shrivelled up to nothing, but sure enough, little green bits were there! Treat turmeric in much the same way as you would ginger.

Propagate by taking pieces of root with Âeyes and planting about 10cm deep. Turmeric grows either from the main root or from the smaller finger rhizomes. Make sure there are at least two growth buds on each piece. Prefers a warm, humid climate and will not grow in cold climates. In temperate areas, protect from frost and place near a warm wall, in a greenhouse or in a large pot. It must be watered and fed often. In cooler areas cover it with a grow mat or plastic bag in early spring to speed up new growth. Take the bag off as soon as new leaves appear. Soil should be well-drained.

In Queensland's fierce summer sun, the leaves burn easily, so I've got mine in partial shade.

I'm very happy to see my Meadowsweet flowering for the first time ever! It's actually prettier than I thought it would be, I can honestly say I didn't expect much from it so I was pleasantly surprised...

Kang Kong (water convolvulus) was the only chinese herb I could grow successfully this summer-- a few queries re herbs-- the shell ginger I removed is reshooting, have read the leaves can be used in cooking-- does anyone know if this is correct? Also have an allspice tree and have the same query re its leaves.. am very wary of not studying the actual constituents and/or properties of unusual plants, as altho they may be edible, I like to know if they contain things like salicylic acid or oxalic acids etc.
Re the arrowroot powder-- I use it in preference to most other thickeners, as it adds no particular added taste to food as does cornflour or wheat flour.Will be having another go at growing elephant garlic-- its chilling in the fridge now. I also grow tumeric, and by chance, found the tubers originally at the supermarket, the same for jeruselem artichokes. With autumn, I should have more luck with herbs,(even my lavender and rosemary died last summer).

I'm growing the water Convovulus too for the first time this year. Do you use it florial?

Yes the leaves of your shell ginger are edible but not so much as a vegetable, more as a flavouring. You could wrap pieces of chicken or seafood, like Pandan chicken before grilling and then remove the leaves prior to eating. Cardamom leaves are more strongly flavoured (like Cinnamon with a hint of ginger). The Australian native ginger, Alpinia caerulea is edible too and tastes very similar.

You're lucky to be able to grow allspice, it's a bit too cold here. Yes the leaves are edible in the same way, use like bay leaves in curries and things. Allspice trees are dioeicous, which means there are male and female trees, and you need both to get allspice berries.

re Kang Kong-- I used to love eating the young leaves on sandwiches like lettuce-- However, one day while waiting at a checkout I began talking to an oriental woman and asked her how she used it -- she said, only cooked, as it could cause, quote 'sore legs' if used raw.. Dont know if there's any veracity to this, but I've checked out analysis of the plant and cant find anything adverse or any warnings, so would appreciate hearing from anyone else about this.. I do use it cooked as a green additive. Yes, I was disappointed to learn that my little allspice tree would never fruit, tho it flowers annually. The leaves smell heavenly.
Am still looking out for the elusive 'dinkum' cardamom! I also like the edible chinese chrysantheum leaves raw on sandwiches, which reminds me I need some more seeds.My English spouse does not share my taste or enthusiasm for the 'unusual'.

my plant of the day is also turmeric. i come from singapore and my family came from a smaller island in singapore and uses lots of turmeric in their cooking. we also use the leaves which i find hard to find here, hence why i am growing them.

just a tip when growing turmeric from rhizomes, when you do get the fresh ones. you wet it just by running it under the tap and you just leave in it a saucer. do this everyday for about a week until the buds starts shooting out then you plant them.

If you were to use just the leaf, make sure you do harvest the root itself otherwise the root will get soggy and not good for use.

Another thing I notice is that it grows really slowly here. Mine is in a pot sitting on the window sill with a sprout of about 2cm .... *sighs*