Harvesting Organic Tennessee Turmeric

Just three weeks ago, all was green!

Our first frost for 2013 was October 19 with several frosts and one freeze since, so it's time to harvest the turmeric!  It's survived late planting, horrendous heat, and a long dry spell, but the nights are just too cold.

I lifted the ginger on Monday, and found about a dozen "hands."  Many of the plants looked like they were just getting ready to thrive which made the harvest even more disheartening.  For next year, I'm ordering for the earliest ship date I can.

Frostbite

The turmeric had weathered the first frost well, but the cold snap just yellowed them.  Despite the beautiful foliage--wouldn't they make a lovely house plant?--the rhizomes should be lifted from below rather than pulled by the plant.

Fine, fibrous roots!

I was surprised by how much "root wool" there was!  They held on to the light dirt even after lifting.

I should have shaken out the dirt, then washed them before "snapping" out the rhizomes.  Even the seed for this year's crop seems usable again.  The rhizomes were small, but not surprising after the size of the ginger crop.

A new rhizome and "babies."

The 2013 turmeric crop!

After sharing some, I think I'll grate it and freeze it fresh.  Many references suggest using it like ginger.   Making powder requires boiling the root, then dehydrating it before grinding.  That sounds like way too much trouble.

Overall, a decent crop for a first-year effort.  I'm planning to grow again, but I'll have to pick out good seed from my own crop as my supplier has already announced that no turmeric will be available next year!

So ends the tale of the turmeric!  What's growing in your Savory garden?

Nancy