Growing Turmeric

Do you ever go inside after gardening with sore hands and stiff knees? Instead of reaching for some Advil or other store bought anti-inflammatory medicine, why not grow your own? Turmeric is a great medicinal plant because not only does it offer a wide array of health benefits, but it is one of the easiest plants to grow, and to harvest. Just head to your local Asian grocery store and look for a piece of turmeric root that you can use to grow your own plants from. Here’s how, and why you might want to.

To Plant

Simply purchase a live turmeric root, usually only available at health food stores or Asian grocery stores.
When weather is warm outside, plant it in a container with good soil. It can be grown in the ground, but I like to get it started in a pot off the ground.
In about 120 to 150 days it should be ready to harvest.
If it is still in the pot you can simply pull it up and knock the dirt off the root, which is the part you are after. Remember to save some of the root to plant again so you don’t need to buy more.

Why Grow Turmeric

Turmeric contains curcumin. This is the active ingredient for all of its health benefits.
It can be used as an anti-inflammatory.
It has powerful anti-oxidant properties and has been linked to reduced cancer rates.
It can be used to treat infections, cuts, burns, and sore throats.
It is very easy to grow, all it requires is some decent soil, warm weather, and water.

I’m not a doctor so I don’t want to make any medical assertions about the potential for turmeric, but it has been used for thousands of years and there is no shortage of people who claim to have benefited greatly from this easy to grow plant.

If you enjoyed this, you might also like….