- Get link
- X
- Other Apps
There are many reasons, why you should grow Turmeric in your garden. It can be a bit intimidating at first, but once you try it, you'll want to grow more, which is why we've put together this post about about how to grow turmeric in your garden.
Benefits of Growing Turmeric:
- The flowers are stunning
- Turmeric is good for areas of your garden that gets little sun.
- Turmeric offers numerous health benefits, so much that we know of several people, who buy turmeric capsules against arthritis-type pains and aches after injuries.
- Turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties.
- Turmeric has antioxidant properties.
- It is easy to grow and needs little maintenance throughout the year.
- It is a great container plant.
- If you use turmeric in your cooking, growing your own turmeric helps you control that no pesticides have been used in the process.
- Turmeric and turmeric powder are usually imported, grow your own turmeric and save on your carbon footprint.
- It can be difficult to find fresh turmeric in the store, so growing your own turmeric makes it easily accessible.
 |
| Turmeric bloom |
Our family began growing turmeric, because we use it a lot in our cooking. With Indian and Jamaican roots, turmeric powder is a staple in our spice cabinet, but we also try to add it to other dishes (and even to our dog's food), because of the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of turmeric. You can read more about the health benefits of turmeric here.
 |
| Planting turmeric root |
How to Grow Turmeric
- Get fresh turmeric root
- Divide the turmeric into smaller pieces, so that each piece has at least one node.
- We recommend growing turmeric in a large pot for easier harvest, but you can grow turmeric in a shallow container as long as there is room to grow.
- Fill a large pot with branches, woodchips and leaves at the bottom, then top off with compost and good soil.
- If you grow turmeric in the ground, make sure the soil is loose.
- Place the turmeric root, so that each piece has as least at least 2 - 3 inches of growing space.
- If you live in growing zone 8 - 11, you can leave your turmeric outside year round.
- If you live in growing zone 7 or below, make sure to harvest all of your turmeric root before the first frost. Or simply move your pot indoors during the months with frost.
- Turmeric root takes about 7 - 10 months to develop, so make sure to start as soon as soon in the season as possible.
We found fresh turmeric root from Frogsong Organics at the St. Augustine farmer's market at the Amp, but if you're looking for more varieties you can find turmeric root at the Patel Brothers Indian store in Jacksonville (and other places in Florida). Indian stores are great places to find things such as turmeric root, pigeon peas and more.
Turmeric roots do not grow deep, so you can use a shallow container or plant it directly in the ground as long as you make sure the soil is loose.
 |
| Turmeric grown in full morning sun |
This year we had two large pots with turmeric root. One was in shade most of the day with some dabbled morning light, and the other got full morning light until about 11 a.m.
The results were very different, as the turmeric root with more morning light did tremendously better than the turmeric with only dabbled light.
 |
| Growing Turmeric root The turmeric on the left were grown in mostly shade with dabbled morning light, while the turmeric root on the right received full morning sun and indirect light until 3 pm. |
How To Harvest Turmeric
- When the leaves begin to turn yellow in the fall, it is a sign that it is time to harvest turmeric.
- We waited until the end of November this year (growing zone 9b), and we are very satisfied with the results.
- We cut down the leaves leaving enough stem to see where the plants had grown.
- The edible leaves were fed to the chickens.
- We then grabbed the remaining stems and pulled the attached turmeric root up shaking off any dirt.
- We broke off most of the turmeric roots, leaving a piece with several nodes to return to the planter.
- We then added new leaves and compost to the pots before replanting the turmeric root with stems, and we added a few more pieces.
- Cover with compost/soil, leaves and leave it until next spring, when new leaves will emerge.
We planted half of our turmeric harvest, so that we will get even more turmeric next year.
 |
| Fresh turmeric root ground in a food processor |
We gave some away to friends, we used some of the turmeric to cook fresh for our curries, and some will be dried and chopped.
If you want to learn more about growing your own food in Northeast Florida, make sure to browse our website or check out the tabs in our sidebar for help.
Popular Posts
Troy-Bilt Wood Chipper - Super Tomahawk = Our No. 1 Tool For Better Composting
We could not have gotten as far with our sustainable land clearing and composting, if it had not been for our power horse, our Troy-Bilt Super Tomahawk wood chipper with its 8 HP Briggs & Stratton motor. We purchased this 31+ year-old wood chipper off Craigslist for $200 about a year and a half ago, and it is still going strong. Troy-Bilt Super Tomahawk Wood Chipper
Zone 9A/9B Gardening Calendar - North East Florida Planting Schedule
Gardening in Florida is a very different experience than gardening in the rest of the country, and growing fruits and vegetables in North East Florida is a very different experience than gardening down south. It has taken us about five years to adjust to the zone 9 planting schedule, and while there are many zone 9 garden guides out there, we felt that there was a need for a simple, user friendly zone 9A/9B planting calendar.
How To Remove Palmetto Palms
If you have ever tried to remove a palmetto palm by cutting it down, you will likely have realized that removing palmettos is tricky. So, when we got ourselves a piece of land with about half an acre of these wonderful palmetto palms, also known as saw palmettos or shrub palmettos, we knew that we had a challenge on our hand.
Where To Find Free Nursery Pots and Planters
Every gardener needs something for their plants to grow in. Whether it is directly into the soil in your garden, into a garden bed, nursery pots, ceramic pots, terracotta pots, or if you get more creative, you need something for your plants to grow in. That's why we're always looking for free nursery pots and cheap planters.
How to Transplant a Banana Tree
Wondering how to transplant a banana tree? I know, it's not a tree, so wondering how to move a banana plant? Bananas are pretty easy to move, and they're pretty hardy too. The best time to transplant a banana plant is in the rain season, but I've planted and re-planted banana plants all year round, just remember to water well if it doesn't rain. Last year I planted a small ice cream banana pup in front of our home, but I was negligent in my research and didn't realize just how big it would get. I prefer moving banana trees in the rain season, but the leaves were getting too close to our power line, so it had to be moved. The roots of banana trees aren't very deep, and they will quickly re-establish, if you give them some love and water. The root ball of a 1 year old Grand Nain banana We've been preparing an area at The Land for banana babies, since we now have six different banana varieties at the house and these are beginning to give us pups. Today was th...
Save Your Papaya Trees After Cold Damage
Papayas are susceptible to high winds and freezes, but do not let that prevent you from growing papayas in zone 9a or 9b. In our experience, papayas are pretty cold hardy, but they do not like temperatures below freezing, especially not a sustained time with freezing temperatures. Temperatures below 40 degrees F/4 degrees C will make the papayas begin to look sad, but it is not until the temperatures hit freezing, that the papaya trees will sustain damage enough to kill the papayas. Last winter we had two quick freezes here in St. Augustine (growing zone 9a), and while our tallest papayas looked sad after the first freezing night, it was not until the second freeze that they were defeated. How to Save Papayas After a Freeze: After a freeze wait and see for a week or two to determine where you need to cut your papayas. If another freeze is imminent before your wait or see period is over, make the cut low, cover and protect. Look for new growth or a firmer trunk. Cut the papaya trun...
How to Grow Mulberry from Cuttings
Our favorite mulberry bush is in danger of eradication, so for the past year or so we have been growing mulberries from cuttings. Our children love eating fruit straight from the trees and bushes, and while we lose wild areas every day to construction and development in our community, we still have a few areas left untouched for now. Some mulberry trees are simply too tall for great mulberry picking, but this one mulberry bush is low and spread thick like a bush. Mulberries look similar to blackberries, but they are sweeter and juicier. They do not hold up well, which is why you will not find them in the stores, but we freeze any leftover mulberries to use in our weekly smoothies. Wild blackberries and wild mulberries We've taken cuttings three times from the mulberry bush. We waited until after fruiting last spring to take the first cutting, and the second time was about four months after fruiting. The third set of cuttings we took was in late winter, just as the mulberry bush had...
How To Use Fruit Peel Fertilizers
When it comes to growing success, I strongly believe in using homemade compost, and if you mix it with composted chicken manure, then you've got the good stuff. We do use these organic fertilizers at times, but if at all possible, we prefer to use fruit peel fertilizers, other natural fertilizers, and compost. Other than that, we feed our plants a lot of greens. Whenever I cut and prune if it's not turned into new plants, it is either fed directly to plants by simply placing it at the base of a plant, it is composted at the land in our big compost pile, or it is composted at home in our chicken compost pile. When it comes to fruit trees, I like to give them fruit peels as a natural fertilizer. A fruit peel fertilizer is an obvious way of giving back to a fruit tree the nutrients that we've removed. Apple trees get apple cores and peels, citrus trees get citrus peels, everything gets banana peels, and when it's bloom season I feed tomato plants and fruit trees with ban...
How To Make Permanent Plant Tags out of Recycled Plastic, Aluminum & Copper
We have lots of citrus trees in the garden, but until they produce fruits, they will be just that - citrus trees - because I have no clue what type they are, since most of my plant tags never held up. I've tried many different plant tags from chalk signs to plastic and the infamous popsicle stick. All failed the test of time, but when I started selling plants, I had to come up with some way to identify the plants and trees to make it easier for the customers. I wanted something that would last at least 6 months, could stand up against the weather, and I began looking for plastic plant tags. I had a hard time finding affordable, recycled plastic plant tags, so I decided to create my own permanent plant tags . (< see video) We've also begun a complete revamp of our front garden, which means more plants, and we've got lots of plants and trees growing for our future garden at The Land. For these plants, I wanted permanent plant labels that could contain both the common name ...
Plant Propagation with a Clear Plastic Bin - Making More Plants
I have an addiction to making more plants. It is simply impossible to stop, once you've learned the techniques of plant propagation - and yes we need to grow more plants, and so I have been propagating plants for years with the rooting powder and plastic bag method. Plant Propagation This year I decided to try a new method, hoping to improve on my plant cutting survival rate with the plastic tub method, but it was also an attempt to make more plants and to be able to just leave the plants alone outside. When you look at professional plant propagators, they usually have a greenhouse, and in this greenhouse a mist of water keeps the humidity high. This is essentially what happens in the clear plastic tubs, as long as they are completely closed. You can see the condensation on the top of the bin, and it is like a mini greenhouse. Clear plastic bins for plant propagation I looked for clear storage tubs or plastic bins at the thrift store. Unable to find some with clear lid...
Comments
Post a Comment