If you have only ever cooked with the dried, fibrous ginger root from a grocery store, what we bring to the Carrboro Farmers' Market on Saturday mornings will change how you think about the ingredient entirely.
We grow ginger here on our 40-acre farm in Oxford, North Carolina — in Granville County, about an hour north of the Research Triangle. Ginger is not a traditional North Carolina crop, which is part of why we grow it. We started experimenting with it in our greenhouse, where the warm, humid conditions mimic the tropical climate the plant prefers, and over the years we have developed a reliable harvest of fresh, pink-tipped rhizomes that our market customers come back for season after season.
What makes fresh ginger different
Fresh-harvested ginger — sometimes called "baby ginger" or "young ginger" — has a thin, almost translucent skin that you do not need to peel. The flesh is juicy and bright, with a clean, sharp heat that is more floral and less woody than the dried root you find at the supermarket. It grates easily, slices thin enough to eat raw, and dissolves into sauces and marinades in a way that dried ginger simply cannot replicate.
How to use it
We recommend grating it directly into stir-fries, steeping thick slices in hot water for a fresh ginger tea, blending it into smoothies with turmeric and black pepper, or simmering it into soups and curries. The young rhizomes are mild enough to pickle in rice vinegar with a pinch of salt — the result is the kind of pickled ginger you find at a sushi counter, made at home in under an hour.
Want to grow your own?
We also sell well-rooted plants and robust starts for people who want to grow ginger in their own garden. Ginger grows well in containers or in a sheltered garden bed with afternoon shade. Stop by our stand at the Carrboro Farmers' Market and we can walk you through everything you need to get started.
Find us every Saturday from 7 AM to 12 PM at the Carrboro Farmers' Market in Carrboro, NC. Fresh ginger is available seasonally — quantities are limited.