My lemon grass experiment....

[hoodat]

Lemon grass surprised me by surviving in Northeast Oklahoma where the Winters can get nasty. All it did was survive though. It would struggle back out of the ground each Spring and barely recuperate and get a little size by the time Fall did it back in. I never was able to harvest any. here in San Diego there's no stopping it.

 

[lesa]

Hoodat- I was just going to dry a few of the blades... Is that what you would harvest? Or am I waiting for a flower or something?

 

[hoodat]

You use the dried leaf blades for a fragrant tea. It's nice to mix in with other herb teas for the lemon taste and aroma. For cooking you pull or cut off a mature shoot with the bulge at the bottom, like you find them in Asian markets. The bulb is usually bruised to let out the flavor and used for cooking. You take it back out after cooking. For soups you normally add the bruised bulb at the last minute before serving for the aroma and the diner takes it out before eating the soup. You can use the dried leaves in a pinch if you can't find the bulbs but the taste isn't as strong. Mexican recipes sometimes specify dried leaves.

 

[lesa]

Okay, great- I appreciate the tips! Interestingly, after I planted the lemon grass- I found that it is often used as a lure in bee trapping. I guess I will dry some and have it around for that purpose too...