Lemongrass

Lemongrass is an essential ingredient in Thai cooking and also adds a delicious lemony flavour to ice cream, salad dressings and soups. It is very easy to grow from stalks that you can buy at your local supermarket. It thrives in warm conditions, so plant some in your garden now for a plentiful crop all summer.

Planting tips :

• Buy the plumpest lemongrass stalks you can find at your local supermarket.
• When you get home trim the top of the stalk and pull off any dry leaves from the base. Then place the stalk in a jar of room temperature water as soon as possible.
• Put the jar in a sunny windowsill and wait for the stalk to develop roots (this usually takes a week or two). When the roots are about 5cm long, you can transplant the stalk into your garden. 
• Choose a sunny spot and plant the stalk in well composted soil. Make sure that you bury the roots and the base of the stem. Water regularly, as lemongrass dries out very quickly.
• To harvest lemongrass, gently pull out a stalk, roots and all. The remaining stalks will continue to reproduce.

Uses :

• Steep fresh clippings of the grassy sections of the stalk in boiling water for a refreshing tea.
• Use fresh lemongrass leaves to add flavour to homemade salad dressings and marinades.
• Tender chopped stalks add zesty flavour to Thai curries, spring rolls, fish dishes and soups!