Harvest Lemongrass Guide
Lemongrass – botanical name, Cymbopogon citrate – is a tall, perennial grass native to the tropical and sub-tropical climates of Asia, Africa and Australia. Like the name suggests, it is widely known for having a fresh, lemony smell.
Dried lemongrass is commonly used to make herbal teas and other drinks. It is also used as a spice in preparing food. Lemongrass is also medicinal and is commonly used to cure congestions and treat colds.
Lemongrass are fast-growing and quite easy to care for. Chip in the fact that they are evergreen and that makes them favourite plants for any backyard garden. However, after planting, most people are usually not sure of when and how to harvest their lemongrass.
Hence, in today’s article, we are going to show you how to identify lemongrass that is ready to be harvested and how to successfully carry out the harvesting operation.
How to harvest lemongrass
Harvesting lemongrass is quite a simple and straightforward process. As they rarely wither out, you can harvest them any time of the year.
Lemongrass is harvested for both the stalk and the foliage. The stalks are usually the most utilized and edible part of lemongrass.
Lemongrass is usually ready to harvest six months after planting. Mature lemongrass plants are usually between 3-5 feet tall with a strong lemony smell and slightly darker green leaves.
You can follow these steps to harvest lemongrass that are matured:
1. Gather your equipment
Lemongrass are quite tough plants and can’t be harvested with bare hands. Hence, to properly carry out this operation, you’ll need:
- A knife
- Gloves
- Plastic bag to collect the grass
2. Select the right plant
In picking the right lemongrass to harvest, start checking from the older ones first. The stem has to be about ½-inch thick. Also, when you squeeze and bend the leaves, they do not break easily, rather displaying some sort of flexibility. The leaves also secrete oil when squeezed.
3. Cut the plant
- Wearing your gloves, grasp an outer stalk on the selected plant and press down to separate it from the others.
- Slowly pull out the separated stalk whilst twisting gently in order to remove the entire stalk and its bulb-like base.
- Using your knife, peel off the outer leaves on the stalk as these are quite unpleasant to eat or drink when brewed.
- Trim the stalk from the top so only the bottom 6 to 12 inches remain. This is the most useful part of lemongrass.
4. Collect your grass
After successfully cutting the required amount of lemongrass, package them carefully and keep them in your plastic bag.
Cover the hole where you harvested your lemon grass from and loosen the soil around it. This helps maintain the quality of the soil.
Enjoy your lemongrass!
You might also enjoy reading our guide on quinoa and sustainable farming.
