BY JANE BLOODWORTH ROWE
VIRGINIA BEACH — I’m a fool for all things lemony, and so I’ve absolutely fallen in love with lemongrass, which is generally grown for its fragrance and culinary value.
Locally, the lemongrass plant has been available in nurseries for several years, and it’s often marketed as a mosquito repellant. It’s also used in many traditional Vietnamese and Thai dishes, and the stalks have become available in grocery stores.
I bought a lemongrass plant last summer to grow in a container on my patio. The plant can grow quite large in the open ground – up to three feet tall and six feet wide – but it can also adapt to containers.
The plant was marketed as an annual, and lemongrass is generally considered to be winter hardy only in certain areas. Last winter, however, I did what some horticulturists say can’t be done here in our area. I kept my lemongrass plant in a container in a very sheltered location. Although it died back to the ground, it began putting out new shoots when the weather warmed this spring.
The annual, then, turned into a perennial. Like most perennials, it’s grown larger this year and is a couple of feet high. The University of Wisconsin Horticulture, a division of that state’s extension service, notes that it can flower but usually doesn’t in its first year. Mine still hasn’t, so perhaps our growing seasons just aren’t long enough to give it time to bloom.
Still, the wonderful fragrance of lemongrass makes it well worth the minimal effort that is required to grow it. You can grow it either in a container or in the ground. Keep it well-watered and perhaps mulch it occasionally or fertilize it with organic fertilizer, and it should be happy all summer – and perhaps next summer as well.
Lemongrass is grown commercially for use in essential oils, candles, and perfumes. If you’re into candle making, or you make your own potpourri or experiment with fragrant waters, you’ll probably be delighted with its lemony scent.
Unfortunately, I’m too lazy and unskilled for any of that. I have, however, found three basic uses for lemongrass that I’m happy to share:
As an insect repellant, lemongrass will keep flying pests off your porch or patio.
The blades of lemongrass — that pithy part above the fibrous stems — make absolutely fabulous iced or hot tea. The blades, however, can be sharp, so you might want to use gloves or avoid rubbing your hands across the edges when you harvest it.
For a pitcher of iced tea, use about five or six long stalks, coarsely chopped. Use them fresh or dry them in a 250-degree oven until they’re crunchy, which usually takes about 15 minutes. Then, place them in a pot, pour boiling water over them, and steep for at least a half hour, or longer if you prefer strong tea.
The great thing about herbal teas is that they can be made to taste, so experiment with adding more or less lemongrass, and, if you want, you can add mint, lemon balm, or other herbs.
Lemongrass also works well in soups, stews, stir-fries, and other dishes. Remember those tough, fibrous stems that you didn’t use in your tea? Peel the outer couple of layers, off, slice them, pound them with a meat pounder to release the fragrant oils, and add them to soups, stews or sauces, Remove them before you serve the dish.
Or, if you want to stir fry with it, chop or mince the stem and add to hot oil along with the other vegetables.
If you don’t already have a lemongrass plant, there’s still plenty of time to grow one during this warm season. You can harvest the blades before frost and freeze it, and I also refrigerate the dried blades to use in teas over the winter.
These cold-sensitive blades will die anyway when the first hard freeze arrives, but, if the plant’s kept sheltered and the winter is mild, it’s possible that it will return next spring.
The author is a contributor to The Independent News. Her journalism has also appeared in The Virginian-Pilot.
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