Growing ginger

Growing Ginger

If you live in a sub-tropical area and can find a market for your produce, I highly recommend you grow ginger.

Ginger is a valuable crop. In 2010 we planted 8 rows of ginger in an area 75 metres square. During April and May we have sold 300 bunches of ginger for a total return of $1200. This is a good return considering the amount of land devoted to growing and the relatively small amount of labour needed. Of course costs for fertilizer, manure, mulch and water have to be taken into account. The total cost for these would not exceed $50. The biggest cost is for labour. Labour is required for preparing the land, keeping weeds under control, harvesting and preparing the ginger for sale.

The size, smell and taste of ginger depends to a large extent on the fertility of the soil in which it is grown and the amount of water that is available, so it pays to really build soil fertility and organic matter as a first step and water once a week if it doesn't rain.

Ginger is a very hungry plant so ensure the ground is well fertilized at least 2 - 3 months prior to sowing. Add lime, an all purpose fertilizer, compost and a generous amount of animal manure to the soil and leave it to break down before planting your crop. Cover with mulch to prevent weeds growing.

Plant ginger in spring using rhizomes from the previous year's crop. Store these in dry potting mix in a box somewhere dark. In spring they will start to shoot. Each root will have several growing points. Cut the root into pieces ensuring that each piece contains at least one growing point. Scrape the mulch away, place each root piece 5 cm deep and 15 cm apart. Cover with soil and mulch the planting area generously.

The ginger will emerge shortly after planting. Keep the growing area weed free and add more mulch as it is needed. Ginger is a hardy plant and will require little maintenance apart from occasional "housekeeping" to remove weeds. Water once a week and add liquid fertilizer twice during the growth period. Harvest when the leaves start to turn yellow. Use a fork to dig up the whole plant. Remove the roots and cut off the stems. Store in a cool, dry place.

Ginger is a valuable food because it contains potassium, magnesium, copper, manganese, silicon, vitamins B3 and B6. It also choline, pantothenic acid, citral, inosital, camphene and gingerol. It enhances digestion, stimulates appetite, alleviates headaches, colds and flu and reduces pain and swelling caused by rheumatoid arthritis. It reduces all symptoms associated with motion sickness and morning sickness during pregnancy.

Studies suggest that gingerols may inhibit the growth of colorectal cancer cells and kill ovanian cancer cells by inducing programmed cell death and cell self-digestion. Studies have also demonstrated that gingerols suppress production of pro-inflammatory compounds produced by cells in the lining of joints and joint cartilege.

Gingerols are also thought to be the reason why ginger reduces the pain of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis and cause improvement of mobility for arthritis sufferers.

Ginger significantly inhibits the production of nitric oxide, a highly reactive nitrogen molecule that quickly forms a very damaging free radical called peroxynitrite. It also lessens the rate of depletion of glutathione, one of the body's most important internally produced anti-oxidants.

Apart from using ginger in cooking you can use it as a tea or to make lemonade. When making ginger tea place very finely slices in boiling water for 10 minutes. Add honey to sweeten. To make ginger lemonade combine grated ginger, lemon juice, honey and water.

Here's a recipe for a delicious ginger sauce.
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 onion, 1 clove of garlic, 2 tablespoons of minced ginger in lemon juice, 1 bunch of coriander, 2 kaffir lime leaves, 1 tablespoon of fresh lime juice, ½ teaspoon of chilli powder, 40 ml of coconut milk, ½ teaspoon of turmeric and
3 tablespoons of fish sauce

Place onion, garlic, ginger, kaffir lime leaves, chilli powder and roots of coriander in a food processor and blend. Heat oil in a frying pan and cook blended ingredients for 5 minutes. Add coconut, turmeric, lime and fish sauce and simmer for a further five minutes. Add chopped coriander leaves and pour over chicken breasts.

Written by Bev Buckley For more information visit Growing Healthy

The Importance of Trace Elements

The current situation

Food produced by large-scale, conventional, commercial farming practices generally contains 3 major nutrients (nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous) and 4 minor nutrients (boron, copper, manganese and molybdenum). These elements are generally monitored in agricultural soils. Three other nutrients (iodine, cobalt and selenium) are contained in our food if we eat meat. Iodine and cobalt come from salts licks provided to cattle, selenium is added to fortified chicken feed.

The bad news

The bad news is that living things need 72 biological elements for normal metabolic function, reproduction and maintenance of the immune system. From the studies of Mt Tamborine soils carried out by the Tamborine Mountain Local Producers’ Association, which sponsors the Green Shed Market, we know that calcium is generally deficient. Since calcium is required in every cell in our body it is vitally important. When food is grown on soils, which contain all 72 elements, it is healthy. Because it is healthy, plants grown in this soil are healthy. Insects and diseases do not attack. Insects are nature’s garbage disposal agents. Too often we choose to kill the insects and we eat the garbage. Disease is also nature’s way of eliminating those things that are not healthy, whether they are plants, animals or humans.
The food we eat is severely deficient in over 60 vitally important elements. Many practitioners of alternative medicine and a growing number of doctors believe that this is the cause of large numbers of physiological and mental diseases such as cancer, auto–immune disease, late onset diabetes, degenerative and chronic diseases, allergies and birth defects. Dr Carole Hungerford’s book “Good Health in the 21st Century” provides a sound scientific explanation of the thinking behind this claim. Her book won the Queensland Premier’s Literary Award in 2006. Dr Hungerford rejects the routine cocktail of medications with their complicated interactions and side effects, and shows how to provide a chance for minerals, vitamins and essential fatty acids to do their health giving work.

Trace elements are:
• Essential in the assimilation and utilisation of vitamins.
• An aid in digestion.
• A catalyst for hormones and enzymes.
• An aid in replacing electrolytes lost through perspiration.
• A protection against toxic reactions.
Reinstatement of trace elements in our soils eliminates all plant diseases, pest and insect attack. This eliminates the need for use of toxic agricultural chemicals, which are used with frightening frequency on our food.
On Tamborine Mountain we have proved that the claim of adding the full range of trace elements and balancing the major elements is the way to grow healthy crops. Customers at the Green Shed see the evidence and comment regularly on it. If this strategy can make a difference to plants, we ask the question: “Why don’t we use the same strategy to improve human health?”
Most research into trace elements seems to be done with the intention of finding out the effects of having too much of a particular trace element. There seems to be only a little work has been done to identify the beneficial role played by individual trace elements. Research has shown that:
• Chromium shortage may cause heart condition, disruption of the metabolism and diabetes,
• Indium stimulates metabolism,
• Molybdenum functions as a co-factor for a number of enzymes that catalyse important chemical transformations eg xanthine oxidase catalyses the breakdown of nucleotides to form uric acid which contributes to the anti oxidant capacity of the blood,
• Boron promotes bone and joint health. Adequate intake of boron in conjunction with magnesium helps prevent calcium loss and bone demineralisation in post-menopausal women. Anecdotal studies suggest boron may alleviate symptoms of osteoarthritis.
• Zinc deficiency is associated with anaemia, delayed growth, birth defects, spontaneous abortion, impaired sexual maturation, sterility, slow wound healing.
Reference: http://www.truehealth.org/
Some essential trace elements
Silver, aluminium, gold, boron, barium, beryllium, bismuth, bromine, niobium, cadmium, cerium, cobalt, chromium, caesium, copper, gallium, germanium, mercury, iodine, indium, iridium, lanthanum, lithium, molybdenum, osmium, lead, palladium, platinum, radium, rubidium, ruthenium, antimony, selenium, silicon, tin, strontium, tellurium, thorium, titanium, vanadium, zinc, zirconium.

Written by Bev Buckley, Growing Healthy
http://www.growinghealthyorganicfood.com/