Ginger Root

     My garden has a new inhabitant: ginger! A little guerilla gardening in reverse has brought me some ginger root which I planted in a public place at least 30 years ago. I've been thinking about this for months and finally was in the vicinity of this place 2 weeks ago. I boldly parked and walked in, no one was about, I loosened the soil with my trowel and 2 big pieces came out. Into the plastic bag they went and I was gone in 5 minutes. Back home, I planted the largest piece in front of my house. I had a long root and some above-ground green stem. I suspect that, in time, this stem will die away so I am anxiously looking out for a new stem to push its way up through the soil. One of my outdoor cats has been seen lying on the soil under which the rhizome was planted and so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she won't destroy any new shoot.
      The smaller piece I put into the public flower bed at the top of the driveway, which is quite close to my own garage so I can keep an eye on it. It already had a small shoot on it and it appears that the shoot has survived. Before the daring daylight guerilla strike, I had taken a piece of purchased ginger and simply put it in a pot of soil on my front steps. I kept it somewhat moist but nothing happened for 3 or more weeks, hence my urgent need to collect from my 30-year old plant, before spring was over. What did I see this very evening while sitting on my front steps, combing my stray cat? A green shoot peeking out from the soil of that pot (see photo). When I planted that little chunk of rhizome, it seemed to me it should grow, given the right conditions, despite having been harvested many, many weeks before and having sat in a big pile at the grocery store for who-knows-how long. It took its time but now I have hopes of 3 ginger plants and the future harvest of my own fresh, edible ginger root.