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This is an exciting time for home gardeners. We have known for millennia about the emotional benefits of having flowers around, and no one can dispute the wonders of fresh herbs in our kitchens. Now we are seeing a resurgence of interest in learning how to use our garden goodies to heal our families and ourselves.

The conventional science and medical community is catching on — and in many instances is giving its blessing — to the use of certain alternative medicines, including herbs and everyday plants. Let’s have a look at the wonderful properties of ginger, a root easily obtained at the supermarket or grown in a container at home.

Ginger

My first exposure to ginger (Zingiber officinale) had nothing to do with gardening or with health: It had to do with taste. To me, there’s nothing like garlic and ginger to add a marvelous zing to carrots or asparagus. It’s even good with broccoli, chicken or tofu. Add a little butter and teriyaki sauce and voila, an easy crowd-pleaser.

Then I started hearing about ginger’s anti-nausea properties. I’m fond enough of candied ginger anyway, so I decided to give it a try nearly three years ago when I brought my third child into the world. Sure enough, in labor and delivery when I started turning green, I bit off a little chunk of candied ginger, and…blessed relief.

Recently, a friend told me she was feeling nauseous from chemotherapy. To make matters worse, the anti-nausea pills were causing her vision to blur dangerously and were making her feel tired. I suggested that she keep the pills nearby but to try the candied ginger — and we were both thrilled when she experienced dramatic relief using the ginger alone.

Ginger ale is relatively ineffective, because it is so watered-down and processed. Similarly, powdered ginger is not nearly as potent. For best results, select the raw or candied ginger root instead.

Candied ginger root is available at most supermarkets in the fresh food section, or filed away in the baking or gourmet imported foods section. If you use the raw ginger root, just peel off the rough bark and smash the root inside — but the texture and taste of the candied ginger is a little more pleasant.

For us gardening wonks, growing ginger ourselves might be the most pleasant alternative of all.

Growing Ginger

Ginger is a tropical plant that grows two to three feet high and produces lush, fragrant, orchid-like flowers. Native to Asia, it is now cultivated worldwide; Jamaica and China are big producers. In the U.S., it can be grown outdoors in Zone 9 or warmer. Gardeners living in cooler zones can grow it in containers; bring it indoors from before the first frost until late spring.

Ginger can be propagated from the root (technically it’s a rhizome). In order to grow it will need to have at least one “eye.” Place the root section sideways (parallel to the surface of the soil), cover it with a couple of inches of potting soil and firm it up. Keep it in a warm, sunny place until it sprouts.

Once it sprouts, repot it into a large container with a rich soil mix of loam, compost, soil and a little sand for drainage. Keep it warm and wet. However, don’t be disappointed if it doesn’t flower; give it some time and patience. In fact, some say ginger rarely flowers in cultivation — but “rarely” doesn’t mean “never.”

But the benefits of some natural medicines like ginger are undeniable, and their use is becoming more accepted in the mainstream medical community. Next time you feel a bit green about the gills, try ginger; you will be glad you did.

Tags: ginger, herb, stomach's sake

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 at 12:55 pm and is filed under Alternative Medicine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.