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One thing I really look forward to on vacation is a farmer's market.

This summer, I went to a farmer's market with my daughter-in-law and her mom in Pensacola, Florida. One vendor had some amazing and unusual plants. I've learned from experience that the key to bringing home a plant from a different "USDA Plant Hardiness Zone" is that it should be a sturdy plant and that is fairly easy to care for. On this trip I purchased a turmeric plant.

Common turmeric or Curcuma is derived from the Sanskrit word Kumkuma which also means turmeric. It is a tropical plant that is a native species grown in Southern China, Northern Australia, New Guinea and Southeast Asia. It has been naturalized in warmer climates such as Florida, Central America, Africa and other tropical islands.

Not only is it a neat plant to look at, it is grown from tubers or rhizomes that boast excellent health benefits. The tubers have been used for herbal medicine and food flavoring for thousands of years and is an essential culinary ingredient in South Asian cuisine. Turmeric can be incorporated into soup, smoothies and teas and many other dishes.

When you purchase the supplement form of turmeric, the label usually includes Curcumin. Curcumin is a naturally occurring compound within the turmeric plant’s roots. It is used as an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant properties as well as pain management and digestion.

You can plant tubers from the produce section at the store, or online. To plant, place a couple tubers, (buds facing upwards) approximately two to four inches deep under rich, well drained soil in a 12-inch to 18-inch wide pot. It should sprout in 3 to 6 weeks. It grows 3 feet tall. They grow best outdoors in full sun to part shade. If the soil dries out quickly, place plant in a shadier location and make sure the soil stays constantly moist but not waterlogged. It should be fertilized spring or early summer with 5-10-10 fertilizer to stimulate root and beautiful flowers.

The turmeric plant has broad leaves that resemble a canna or a banana plant and the care is very similar. They don't overwinter outside in our cold winters. When the temperatures are in the 50's it should be brought inside and/or harvested for culinary use or to overwinter for spring planting.

It takes turmeric about 10 months to mature into a useable root. It can be harvested and processed when the stems start to turn brown and dry out. Wear gloves to prevent it from staining your hands yellow, cut the rhizomes from the stem and wash well. They can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for about six months.

To make turmeric powder, boil the rhizomes for about five minutes to cure them. This softens the fibers and releases the flavor. Drain and pat dry. Cut them into pieces and dry in an oven or dehydrator on the lowest setting. Once the roots are dry and brittle, grind them with a spice mill or coffee grinder, into a fine powder. If you store in an airtight container away from sunlight it will last a year.

Should you want to plant mature rhizomes the following season, store the rhizomes as you would cannas - covered in dry peat moss in a dark, cool, well ventilated area to prevent them from dehydrating and rotting.

You never know what you will find at a farmer's market.

If you have questions about your garden or landscape, contact a master gardener at the University of Illinois Extension office in Mattoon at 217-345-7034 or through our online hotline at forms.illinois.edu/sec/1523725. 

From the Nov. 22, 1992, Journal Gazette, this photo of Cosmic Blue Comics in Mattoon; where I spent virtually every Saturday afternoon for about two years. That small back room you see just off to the right of the Coca-Cola sign was where they kept the many, and I mean many, long-boxes of back issues. I still own my bagged copy of "Tales of the Beanworld" issue No. 1 that I found back there. Sadly, this location is now just a "greenspace".

Pictured, Shelbyville's Bob Murray from the June 2, 1982, Journal Gazette, displaying his dominance over the TRON arcade game at the "Carousel Time" arcade at the Cross County Mall, later to be the Aladdin's Castle, soon thereafter to be not a thing anymore. I spent just about every Saturday at that arcade, perhaps with that exact same haircut. No overalls, though. I was more of an "Ocean Pacific" kind of kid.

Pictured, from the Nov. 28, 1988, Journal Gazette, Icenogle's grocery store. Being from Cooks Mills, we didn't often shop at Icenogle's...but when we did, even as a kid, I knew it was the way a grocery store is supposed to be in a perfect world, and that's not just because they had wood floors, comic books on the magazine rack, or plenty, and I mean plenty, of trading cards in wax packs.

I had long since moved away from Cooks Mills by the time this Showcase item about Adam's Groceries ran in the June 13, 1998, Journal Gazette, but there was a time when I very well could have been one of those kids in that photo; for if it was summer, and you had a bike, and you lived in Cooks Mills, that's where you ended up. At last report, they still had Tab in the Pepsi-branded cooler in the back. I'm seriously considering asking my money guy if I could afford to reopen this place.

Pictured, from the July 16, 1987, Journal Gazette, this ad for Mister Music, formerly located in the Cross County Mall. I wasn't buying records at that age, but I would eventually, and that's where it all went down. If you don't think it sounds "cool" to hang out at a record store with your buddies on a Friday night, a piping-hot driver's license fresh in your wallet, you'd be right. But it's the best a geek like me could do. Wherever you are today, owners of Mister Music, please know that a Minutemen album I found in your cheap bin changed my life.

Portrait of the author as a young man, about to throw a guitar through a target at that year's Sound Source Music Guitar Throwing Contest, from the April 18, 1994, Journal Gazette. Check out my grunge-era hoodie, and yes...look carefully, those are Air Jordans you see on my feet. Addendum: despite what the cutline says, I did not win a guitar.

Pictured, clipped from the online archives at JG-TC.com, a photo from the April 18, 1994, Journal Gazette of Sound Source Music Guitar Throwing Contest winner, and current JG-TC staff writer, Clint Walker.

Here today, gone tomorrow, Vette's Teen Club, from the June 20, 1991, Journal Gazette. I wasn't "cool" enough to hang out at Vette's back in it's "heyday," and by "cool enough" I mean, "not proficient enough in parking lot fights." If only I could get a crack at it now.

FutureGen: The end of the beginning, and eventually, the beginning of the end, from the Dec. 19, 2007, JG-TC. I wish I had been paying more attention at the time. I probably should have been reading the newspaper.

Illinois Extension leads public outreach for University of Illinois by translating research into action plans that allow Illinois families, businesses, and community leaders to solve problems, make informed decisions, and adapt to changes and opportunities.

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