Before spring explodes all over the place and I explode with the excitement of it all and the crazy abundance of plants I had better finish what I started. So no matter how much I may want to write about wild garlic and share what I have been making and eating with it we need to focus one last post on ginger.
Want chocolate gingerbread and chewy ginger cookies made using your crystallised ginger? Then follow the link.
Want to know a little bit more about ginger? Then keep reading
It's why you're here. Maybe. The recipes are a pleasant add on but really lets get to the point...what are the benefits of eating ginger? Or, more precisely, why would you want to pick ginger over all the other herbs available?
When I think of ginger I primarily think of poor circulation. When you are chilled to the bone, when you want to warm up from the inside out, when your hands and feet are constantly cold and when you get chilblains. Think ginger.
The other time I really think of ginger is when I'm feeling run down and feel a cold, the flu or a sore throat coming on. The circulatory effect of ginger raises your body temperature and helps your body to fight off the invading virus. Sure, there are lots of other great herbs for sore throats and the flu but I always have fresh ginger in the house and I like my medicines to be fresh, or at the very least prepared from fresh.
Don't discount it for digestive problems either. Many women know ginger from its reputation of easing morning sickness and it is also associated with relieving travel sickness.
Take it as a tea by either slicing or grating the ginger into a mug and covering it with hot water. It's best to keep it covered as it brews so that the all the aromatic compounds don't escape with the steam. If you're not sure how strong to make it start with a couple of slices and work your way up, or down. It doesn't have to burn the roof of your mouth off to be of benefit. I like to add in either the juice of half a lemon, for the vitamin C, or a teaspoon of elderberries, for further immune boosting. (I keep elderberries in the freezer so that I have access to 'fresh' ones throughout the year.)
When I wouldn't use ginger:
Very simply put I don't use it where there are signs of heat and inflammation in the digestive system. It can be a pungent and fiery herb and has the potential to aggravate conditions such as ulcers and inflammatory bowel disease. Cooking ginger mellows it a little and also consider quantity. As I said above you don't have to have so much it burns!
This is all a very basic guide to what ginger does. It is useful for many more systems and conditions than mentioned but above is what I immediately think when I think ginger.
(General disclaimers apply...such as this information is not intended to replace advice from your doctor or your own herbalist etc etc. But then, you all know this...you're an intelligent bunch)
Next up is spring madness as all the plants start their race for space and sunlight and I scramble desperately to keep up with the non-stop supply of wild growing goodness.
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