Yesterday, I harvested the lemongrass on my back porch. Back in June, I had purchased a pack of lemongrass at the supermarket and rooted two of the stalks in water for a couple of weeks (the other stalks did not have enough stem left to root) before I planted them in a container. To harvest, I first cut the leaves off, about two inches below where they were branching off the stem. The leaves are super sharp, so wearing gloves was a must.

I then took the outer leaves off, separating the inner greener parts from the outer somewhat drier leaves.

I washed both sets of leaves and left them to dry overnight on a kitchen towel. The leaves are not as razor-sharp and easier to work with if they wilt a bit overnight. I then harvested the stalks and cleaned them as well.

This morning, I made the leaf bundles. Those will be used for tea and to flavor soups.

I am very happy with this little back porch experiment and can’t wait to use the lemongrass in the kitchen. It smelled to good! I will grow (more!) lemongrass again next year and also try to grow ginger.