LEMONGRASS Growing Harvesting Storing and Using Lemongrass

Annyeonghaseyo to each and every one of you. In today's video, as you can tell behind me, it is going to be all about lemongrass. And lemongrass in the Mongolian dialect is what we like to call Touka. And Touka is one of the most amazing herbs to have in your garden. We love using it for a lot of different dishes, especially for soups, for salads, for marinades, stir-fries and so many dishes. It is one of the most amazing herbs typically used in Southeast Asia as well as all over the world. So in today's video I wanted to show you our lemongrass crop this year, how well we've been growing it, how we've been taking care of it and then we're gonna be harvesting it, storing it and then I'm gonna be showing you different ways to use these stalks as well since a lot of you were curious from my previous lemongrass video. So I hope this video is helpful and informative for those who are interested in wanting to learn a little bit more about lemongrass. So let's just get straight to it and show you our lemongrass crop this year. Let's go! So here is the lemongrass that we saved last year. It's been sitting in a glass vase in water for about a couple of months now. Usually we will harvest lemongrass in the fall around maybe mid-October or early October and save some, put it in a glass jar, fill it with water and let it sit by the window to get some sunlight up until springtime or until they are ready to be planted. As it sits through the wintertime we do like to change the water at least once a week or about three times a month and we like to fill it about halfway up with cold water and then place it back up by the window again. And as time goes by you will start to notice the roots sprouting out like this. That means it's doing really good and it will be ready to be planted during springtime. So a lot of you might be curious if you can actually grow lemongrass from buying the store bought ones. So this year I experimented with it and I will show you how it went. So before you actually buy lemongrass stalks at your local Asian grocery store or any store that provides it, make sure you pick and look at the quality of the stalk. So when you're going to the store I usually like to look at the bottom of the stalk here and what you're specifically looking for is the bulb here. The bulb here should still be intact. That means when you're growing it the roots will continue to sprout out. So make sure you pick stalks that still have the bulb here still intact. A bad example would be something like this. The bulb has been cut a little bit too much and you can tell it's fairly dry and cracked in the middle here. So just putting it side by side so you can tell which one is good and which one is bad when going to pick a bundle of lemongrass. So when buying lemongrass stalks from the grocery store it usually comes a full stalk like this without the actual leaves. But before we actually propagate it we are going to trim off the top part. So using a really sharp kitchen scissors just cut it about halfway through like this. And here I have a glass jar filled with cold tap water and we're just going to place the lemongrass stalks right in and allow this to sit for at least two to three weeks. You can actually do this process during late fall and let it sit all the way up till springtime just like how we did with the lemongrass that we harvested last year. But you can definitely just do this a couple of weeks before you're planning to plant lemongrass in the springtime. Within a week or so you'll start noticing the lemongrass sprouting out like this. And then this is what it looks like two weeks later. And within the third week we can start planting it. And if you look at the bottom bulb here we start noticing some tiny baby roots popping out. So at this time it is okay to start planting them. So it is early April and we are ready to start planting the lemongrass. So for the stalks that we've been keeping in water since fall we are going to give it a real good clean before we start planting it. So any of the brown parts here just trim it off. Just make sure the roots are still intact as you peel off any of the unwanted parts. And they should be clean just like this. And here we have it. So my mom and I like to divide these into groups depending on the size. Some of them are a little bit bigger than others so we like to divide it so we know how many stalks goes into each pot. Lemongrass loves sunlight as well as humidity. So for us since we live in zone 8b which gets a fairly good amount of sunlight as well as rain we actually like to grow it in black nursery pots. And we are using 7 to 10 gallon black nursery pots to help grow it. Usually the bigger pots the better so that it can actually root out. Because the pots are fairly big it does use a lot of soil. So what my mom likes to do is just fill it halfway up with soil from last year. So she usually just scoops soil from our garden bag from last year and just fill it up halfway. And then this is the potting mix that my mom and I like to use to fill it up. Go ahead and fill up the rest of the pot with the potting mix. And you want to fill it up about 3 quarters in and make sure to pack it really well. And do it to the rest of the pots. Once it's nice and packed in go ahead and give it some water. And then depending on the size of the stalks you can grow at least three to four stalks per pot. So with your fingers go ahead and make an indentation about maybe an inch to an inch and a half in. And then just place each stalk into it. Make sure it's nice and sealed in and compact into the soil. And then go ahead and finish the rest. onto a bench or anywhere that would have good drainage. We don't want to kill the grass and also we don't want to add too much moisture. So we're keeping it here at this bench. Also keep it in an area that will get really good sunlight. But other than that we are going to keep this here all the way up till maybe mid October for harvesting. A couple of weeks within the growing process my mom and I like to add a little bit of grass clipping on the top. So this is fresh cut grass. We usually do a pretty light layer on a top to help prevent any weed from growing. It also adds moisture and nutrients to the soil as well. So go ahead and do a light scatter on the very top and just leave the grass there for about three to four months. With the store-bought lemongrass that I propagated I am actually going to grow this in the ground this year to see how well they grow. So it's pretty much the same process as growing it in the pot. Just make sure you add really good potting mix or compost or soil and give it some really good water to hydrate it. Make a really good indentation and then go ahead and place the lemongrass about an inch to two inch in and then cover it up with some more soil and we'll let this grow and see how well they're gonna do this year. It's currently June and this is what the lemongrass looks like. We're having a pretty late summer this year so it's been growing pretty slow and as time goes by you'll start noticing some baby stalks popping out. Now lemongrass loves the heat as well as moisture so if it's really hot make sure to water the lemongrass at least once a day or twice a day depending on the weather but make sure the soil is nice and hydrated but not drenched in a pool of water. Fertilizer can actually be used in the earlier stage of the growing process so if you notice the lemongrass not growing as fast just go ahead and add a little bit of fertilizer to help it grow. This year my mom only put it once and then it just continued on doing really well like this. Now this is early August and as you can tell the lemongrass are growing really well and looking at the stalks you can see a lot more popping out and the leaves are growing really well. They are fairly tall and super green and lush. It's currently September and this is what it looks like. You can tell a lot of the leaves are a lot more fuller, a lot more taller and super green as well. In terms of pruning you can go ahead and trim off any dead or dry leaves. Same goes with the stalks. Usually pruning doesn't kill the plant unless you do too much of it so just prune to make the plant a little bit neater and to allow other leaves and stalks to continue growing. Now going back to the ones that we grew in the ground this year, this is what they currently look like. It is late August and they are doing pretty well. Not as tall and not as full but it's doing pretty well. You can tell a lot of the stalks have multiplied and have done pretty well than what I would imagine it doing. I'd say the only problem is that it does take a little bit longer to grow compared to the ones in the pot just because the soil is pretty cold. But it's doing pretty well. You can tell the leaves are growing pretty tall. It's green and pretty lush as well. And here we have it. It is September and the ones in the ground are ready to be harvested. You can tell it has become a lot fuller, a lot taller, and the leaves are a lot thicker as well. I did notice the stalks have multiplied in volume and size and a lot of them were actually fairly thick compared to the ones that we grew in the pots. So it actually did amazing this year. And here we have it. It is time to harvest all the lemongrass that we grew this year. I'm actually very happy by how well they all look and how tall and beautiful and green and lush they are. Especially the ones that we grew in the black nursery pots here. But since the frost is approaching us pretty soon, it is time to start harvesting. So before we start harvesting them, make sure you wear some really nice protective gloves because the actual leaves here are very sharp. They're paper-thin sharp. So make sure you wear gloves to protect your fingers so that you don't get any cuts. And a tool I'm gonna be using is a pair of scissors. So with the scissors, I'm gonna cut about two inches down below where the leaves are located. Now you can actually use a knife and pull out the roots, but because the leaves are really tall and really full this year, I wanted to cut the leaves off first so that they are out of my way before I take care of the stalk. So for the leaves, I like to remove a couple of the layers, especially the ones that has some dirt in it like this. And then it should look something like this. Now for the ones that we trimmed off, don't throw it away. We are going to trim off and cut off this part here and save the leaves. So in a big bowl, we are going to place the leaves in and give it a really good rinse. So after we give it a really good rinse, I like to place it somewhere in the kitchen and let it wilt overnight uncovered. Because lemongrass leaves are super paper-thin, sharp, and very crispy, allowing this to wilt overnight will make it a lot easier for us to actually bind the lemongrass because it's more flexible and also be a lot safer for us to use. Now the lemongrass leaves that you trimmed off, make sure to not throw them away. They're actually really useful. You can actually dry them or use it fresh like this for tea. You can use it in a diffuser. You can actually use them to make mosquito repellent. There's so many different ways to utilize lemongrass leaves, so make sure you keep it and not throw it away. Because lemongrass leaves are super paper-thin, sharp, they're only used for its essence, for its aroma. So what my mom and I like to do is to bind the leaves into bundles like this. So my mom's an expert and she will show you how she does it. It's pretty easy as long as you get the groove and keep practicing it. Now if you're scared of cutting your fingers during this process, go ahead and wear gloves. But because we'll let this sit out overnight and let it wilt, it is actually a lot more flexible for us to use and the sharpness of the leaves have dulled down, so it's a lot easier for us to actually use it. And here we have this beautiful lemongrass leaf bundle. Now the more you do this, the more you'll perfect this and it's actually going to be very easy. Once we finish binding all of them, we're gonna place it into a Ziploc bag and then we're gonna stick in the freezer and just take it out whenever we want to use it for cooking. And then once the leaves are nice and cut off, we have the beautiful stalks here. So the stalks here, if you just leave it in the pot, they will continue to actually grow. You can tell here, I left this overnight and it's already starting to sprout out again. So if you live in a hotter region and you keep this outside throughout the whole year, it will continue to thrive and continue to grow. But we're actually going to take out the stalks and store it because the frost is approaching pretty soon. So for the stalks, we are going to use a knife to ply it out just like this. We're gonna do the same thing, just place it into a bowl and give it a really good rinse and get rid of any soil that's on the lemongrass. And here we have it. This is the lemongrass leaf that we binded, placed in a Ziploc bag along with the lemongrass stalks here. We're gonna place these into the freezer and then just take it out whenever we want to use it for cooking. So a lot of you might be curious, how do you use lemongrass stalks and how do you use lemongrass leaves? So I'm going to show you how I like to cut them and what ways you can actually use it. So for the leaf bundle here, we actually only use it for its aromatic and essence. We love putting it into soups and stews or stocks. I also made a lemongrass ginger tea and that was amazing. After it's done its job, go ahead and discard it and that's pretty much it for the leaf bundle here. And for the stalks, there's multiple ways of actually using and slicing and cutting them. So I'm going to show you multiple ways that I like to use it. So the first way is with a pestle. I like to just pound it and we're just going to pound this to release the natural lemongrass oils here. And then we're going to cut this in half to make it a lot easier for us to use in cooking. So this version, I'm actually only going to use it for its aromatic as well. I like to use it in stir-fry. So when I'm cooking like a chicken stir-fry or pork stir-fry, I'll put it into the oil and then after it's done cooking, just discard it and it's done its job. So for the next one is to thinly slice it on a bias. So the thinner you slice it, the easier it will be to actually eat it. So it should be fairly thin like this. Now you can actually thinly slice it into rounds as well instead of cutting it on the bias, just like this. And both these versions can be used in stir-fries, you could put it in salad dressings, you could put it in la, you can put it in soups, you could put it in a lot of different dishes actually. Now the most common way to use lemongrass stalks is to finely mince it. So I'm gonna use a pestle and just pound it to break up the stalk and then use a really sharp knife to mince it up and just go back with your knife to make it a lot finer, just like this. Now if you don't want to use a knife, go ahead and just rough cut the lemongrass and put it through a food processor or blender and just make a lot finer like this. Now you can also find minced up lemongrass in a lot of Asian grocery store in the frozen section as well. Other than that, minced lemongrass is used for multiple of different dishes. I love using it in chili oil, you can use it in marinades and marinate any type of meat, especially goes amazing with chicken, with pork, with beef, a lot of different poultry actually. It also goes great with fish as well. Other than that, these are the different ways I like to cut and use the lemongrass stalks and leaves. So I hope you found that pretty informative. Other than that, don't forget to save some stalks. Make sure these stalks still has its root intact to it because these will be the ones that we're going to save in a glass vase filled with water for next season. And don't forget to check out my website. I do have pictures as well as detailed information about pretty much growing lemongrass and so check that out if you want to learn a little bit more about it. So I hope you enjoyed seeing how our lemongrass grew this year. I hope this video was informative for those who wanted to learn a little bit more about lemongrass. Until then, I will see you in my next video.