Harvesting Lemongrass

Lemongrass is used in Asian recipes, in particular, Vietnamese and Thai dishes.  It looks like a scallion but the texture is fibrous, more like ginger than an onion.  Has a woody-lemony fragrance and flavor.  

It is very easy to grow.  Depending on your climate, you can put it in the ground, or do as I did:  Put it in a large pot on the deck for the summer.   It was a wee little plant at the beginning of the summer.  It came in a 3 inch pot and cost $1.50.  

I harvested my plant last week, and ended up with 30 usable stalks.  It is easy to do.  First you cut off the excess blades of the plant and cut it down to about 18 inches.  

The hardest part was removing the root structure because it became dense and root bound in its pot.  

After that, peel away the outer layer, and clip the root from the ball.  

I cut them down to fit in a plastic bag and froze the stalks for use throughout the year. 

It's the first time I have harvested a lemongrass plant.  I usually just buy a few of stalks when needed at the grocery store.  Will be fun to see how my frozen ones compare to the fresh. 
---Barbara