Growing Lemon Grass

Lemon Grass is a beautiful tropical grass which has a citronella type flavor that is used primarily in Southeast Asian cooking. This plant will grow to about 2-3 feet around and 6 feet tall! Lemon grass loves sunshine and moisture.

If you live in a milder climate, you can put Lemon grass in the ground in a sunny area and mulch very well to protect its roots from winter cold. If you live up north, plant in large containers with potting soil and bring it indoors in Winter.

To harvest Lemon grass, cut the oldest stalks at the base of the plant leaving the smaller ones to grow. Use it fresh or it can be dried or frozen.

To use Lemon grass in cooking chop the stalks into large pieces and bruise them with the back of the knife to release their flavor. Cook into broths or roast them to extract their flavor and then remove the stalks like a bay leaf. Most Thai hot & spicy soups call for Lemon grass as a primary ingredient as well as many Vietnamese recipes.