In season: ginger

10 a.m. Saturday, October 18. Chef E. J. Hodgkinson of JCT Kitchen. Peachtree Road Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.peachtreeroadfarmersmarket.com

10:30 a.m. Saturday, October 18. Chef Hieu Pham of Crawfish Shack. Brookhaven Farmers Market, Brookhaven. http://brookhavenfarmersmarket.com/

Chef demos are held at many farmers markets. Check your local market’s Facebook page or website for information.

FOR SALE

Just coming to market: cabbage, popcorn

Vegetables, fruits and nuts: apples, arugula, Asian greens, beans, beets, carrots, chestnuts, collards, cucumbers, eggplant, field peas, garlic, ginger, herbs, kale, lettuce, Malabar spinach, mizuna, muscadines, mushrooms, mustard greens, okra, onions, peppers, potatoes, pumpkins, radishes, spaghetti squash, spring onions, summer squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, turmeric, turnips, winter squash

From local reports

This is Michael Hendricks’ third year growing ginger. Hendricks is the farmer at Indian Ridge Farm in Clarkesville in the northeast Georgia mountains. On Saturday mornings, you’ll find him at the Peachtree Road Farmers Market selling produce from the 3-acre farm. The farm also sells to restaurant clients.

When Hendricks heard several years ago that a nearby farmer was growing ginger, he jumped on the idea. His first year’s stock came from Hawaii. Then he started ordering from East Branch Ginger in Pittsboro, North Carolina. Buying seed stock is standard ginger growing practice, saving the farmer from dealing with overwintering the ginger rhizomes and perhaps dealing with a soil-borne virus.

When it’s happy, ginger is a prolific grower. In the right conditions, a pound of seed stock can produce seven to nine pounds of marketable ginger.

Unfortunately, this hasn’t been the best year for Hendricks’ ginger crop. The truck carrying his 60 pound order broke down right when Georgia and North Carolina were dealing with all the snow and ice this winter. Much of the ginger on the truck froze. Out of all that ginger, he was only able to salvage about 15 pounds of seed stock. He planted it out in his hoop house, ending up with about 75 feet of ginger in 3-foot-wide beds.

He’s growing two different kinds this year. One variety is called “Rainbow Runner” with a little bit of pink to it, and “Yellow Fin,” which he finds to be a little bit hotter.

Ginger should be a perfect crop for Georgia, Hendricks says, since it really likes heat, sunlight and humidity. But it turns out, it’s not always as easy as it could be. “Last year, we had a lot of rain and overcast so the crop didn’t do as well. This year the summer has been mild, so the plants aren’t as tall as they should be,” he said.

Ginger needs a long growing season to yield a harvestable crop. Hendricks is keeping his ginger in the ground until first frost when the tops of the plants are killed. Then he’ll dig the rhizomes, which are the parts we call ginger “roots,” and bring it to market. Any that’s not sold can be stored in sand in cool and dark conditions where it will go dormant. He’s expecting that this year, as in years past, he’ll sell out his crop before it has a chance to go bad.

“Our customers really like it, and they have fewer questions about it than about many of our other crops. Sometimes people are a little confused between the ginger, turmeric and sunchokes. The easy way to tell them apart is that the ginger has a pink cast to it while turmeric is more an orange-yellow. Sunchokes are just tan,” he said.

Hendricks’ favorite use for ginger is in tea, a simple infusion of a few slices of ginger in hot water. He also chops it up and adds it to rice and veggie dishes.

His advice for storing ginger is to put it in a sealable plastic bag and store it in your refrigerator’s vegetable bin. It should keep for 2 or 3 weeks that way. Stored on the countertop, it dries out quickly. You can also freeze your ginger in recipe-size pieces, maybe 1-inch chunks. Then grate or slice it as called for in your recipe.

Freshly dug ginger is like nothing that sits in a bin at your local grocery store. The skin is almost translucent and the flesh is sweet and juicy, all qualities ginger loses as it sits in storage or travels far distances to market. Fresh local ginger is so thin-skinned that it generally doesn’t need peeling. Just a quick scrub and you’re ready to put it to use.

Celia Strong’s Autumn Orchard Punch

Celia Strong is originally from upstate New York where fall is apple cider time. “I chose vodka as the base because I wanted to give the punch a potent kick that didn’t overwhelm the other ingredients. I love the fresh, spicy flavor of the ginger simple syrup and the apple cider has the perfect amount of sweetness to balance out that heat. The cranberry juice is another great fall addition that adds a hint of tartness to prevent the drink from becoming cloyingly sweet. I add the dry champagne right before serving to add an effervescent finish fit for a celebration.”

If you don’t have room in your refrigerator for a punch bowl, refrigerate all the components, including the champagne or Prosecco, and assemble the punch just before serving. Strong likes Cathead Vodka in this recipe.

1 (750 milliliter) bottle vodka

3 cups apple cider

1 1/2 cups Preserving Place Ginger Simple Syrup (see recipe)

1 cup unsweetened cranberry juice

1 (750 milliliter) bottle dry champagne or Prosecco

In a punch bowl, combine vodka, cider, ginger simple syrup and cranberry juice. Refrigerate at least one hour. When ready to serve, add champagne. Serves: 24

Per serving: 134 calories (percent of calories from fat, 1), trace protein, 11 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, trace fat (no saturated fat), no cholesterol, 2 milligrams sodium.

Preserving Place Ginger Simple Syrup

This recipe was developed by Saundra Altekruse and is available for sale at The Preserving Place in Atlanta’s Westside. Extra ginger syrup can be used for other cocktails, to sweeten tea or to pour over a fruit salad.

If you’re using fresh local ginger, no need to peel.

2 1/2 cups water

2 1/2 cups granulated sugar

3/4 pound ginger, peeled and chopped

In a large saucepan, combine water, sugar and chopped ginger. Cook over low heat for one hour. Remove from heat, cover the pan and cool overnight. The next day, strain the syrup. Discard ginger and refrigerate syrup. May be made up to 1 month ahead and refrigerated. Makes: 3 1/2 cups

Per 2-tablespoon serving: 88 calories (percent of calories from fat, 3), trace protein, 22 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, trace fat (no saturated fat), no cholesterol, 2 milligrams sodium.