Lemongrass

[Labradors]

I have grown lemongrass in the garden, dug it up and put it in a pot for the winter, then put it back in the garden when the weather warmed up. Worked fine, but I got fed up with doing it.

Linda

[karstopography]

My lemongrass keeps on keeping on. I severely mangled the lemongrass and then drug it in the garage during the big February freeze event. It’s in a heavy Ceramic container, but in spite of my best efforts I couldn’t free the root ball from the container. So I drug it into the garage, minus a lot of the foliage, whew, that was heavy lifting. Wasn’t time to track down a dolly.

I do use a stalk for cooking from time to time and the leaves in tea here and there. Mine flowers each winter. It tells me when it is dry too, by getting a little droopy. Hard to kill and bounces back well from trauma like trying to dig it out of the container.

[pepperhead212]

Here's how I stored all that lemongrass, using the Foodsaver.

I first cut a bunch of strips from a 6" wide roll, sealing it twice, and cutting down the center. That roll ran out, so I cut some strips from an 8" wide roll, cutting it into thirds. I was only 1 strip short, by the time I finished, which wasn't a bad estimate!
A 6 in wide Foodsaver strip, with 3 sealed strips, ready to cut up the center, to make 2 strips. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

An 8 in Foodsaver strip, sectioned into 3 narrower strips, ready to slice into strips. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Some lemongrass in packs of 3, some in packs of 4. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Here's the stack of sealed lemongrass strips. 5 of them went in the upstairs freezer, but the rest went into a 2 gal ziploc, and into the downstairs freezer.
Finished stack of Foodsavered lemongrass. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[HL2601]

Maybe a silly question here...can you dry lemongrass and use in soups etc?

[pepperhead212]

Dry lemongrass isn't nearly the same as the fresh. They still sell it, as with many herbs, that don't have the same flavor as fresh.

[HL2601]

Thanks @pepperhead212
I grew some for the first time this year and wasn't quite sure what I was doing with it or why! silly...I was just intrigued. It's been in a paper bag drying and I have to say when I crunch it the lemon scent is fantastic. I was thinking tea and soup...Next year maybe I will get those big stalks with the purple rings to freeze.