I love the smell of lemongrass: fresh, clean and zesty. My favourite way to use it up is in this lemongrass drink that I learned from one of my favorite local restaurants. Back then, lemongrass was a hard-to-find ingredient and since I’d never tried it in a drink, it was difficult for me to figure what the chef had added to a mundane sweet soda. The waiter was kind enough to share the recipe, and now I can make it myself at home. Now I’m even more thrilled because I can have my favourite drink whenever I want because I finally grow my own lemongrass!
And you know the good news? Growing lemongrass is child’s play. All you need to do is plonk the stalks that you buy at the supermarket into a jar filled with about an inch or so of water and just watch it grow! Within just two days you will see the roots sprout and you know you’re on your way to a bountiful lemongrass garden. Just a pot or two will do the trick, so even for those of you who, like me, live in apartments, growing your own lemongrass is so easy.
Just keep changing the water every day or every second day at most. In about three to four weeks, the lemongrass would have grown about 2 inches of roots. Now is when you can transfer the lemongrass sapling to the soil. Keep it watered well, but make sure the soil isn’t soaked in water. It can withstand a good amount of sunlight as well.
Have a look at these weekly progress photos in case, just like me, you didn’t believe that growing lemongrass could be this easy:
Oh, and here’s an old post I had written back in 2007 about lemongrass. What’s special to me about that post is that it was the first ever post on PurpleFoodie.com!