Another interest of mine is cooking. Specifically ethnic food, and often the more exotic the better. And nothing incorporates fresh ingredients with bold and exotic flavors quite like Thai food does.
The incredible ingredients Thai food calls for are, unfortunately, difficult to find at times. Items such as galangal (a rhizome much like ginger but with a very unique flavor), lemon grass (a grass that as it’s name implies has an intense citrus fragrance), Thai basil, Thai chili‘s, and Kaffir Lime leaves. The great news is that even in Edmonton climate most of these ingredients can be grown. With the exception of galangal, I have grown all of these ingredients at one point or another. Unfortunately, none will survive winters here, but this is easily overcome by simply moving the plants indoors (or growing them exclusively indoors).
Last year I decided I wanted to try to grow a Kaffir Lime tree. I read up on growing dwarf citrus trees and then began searching for seeds. I ended up finding a couple of different sources on ebay, one here in Canada and the other in Bangkok, Thailand. I ordered both.
Once the seeds arrived I needed to come up with a soil. I had read that you don’t want to use regular potting soil. You also want it to drain really well; cedar shavings (the kind you put in your hamster’s cage) work well for this. So I added 2 parts commercially sold compost, 1 part sand and 1 part cedar wood shavings.
After planting the seeds I placed the pots on a heating pad and placed a grow light overhead. I also covered the pots with a cling wrap. It took several weeks to germinate, but in October of 2012 the first seed germinated.
The first Kaffir Lime seed sprouts.
Two others sprouted over the next few weeks. They grow very slowly. In March I transplanted the largest into a new pot and placed it in our mini indoor greenhouse. It took off, doubling its size in several weeks.
The largest Kaffir Lime tree as of May 2013.
The fruit of the Kaffir Lime tree can be used for cleaning (it’s used in southeast Asia as a stain remover) and for creating fragrance products, but it’s not used in culinary arts. It’s the leaves that are used in Thai and other ethnic dishes. However, I’m reluctant to harvest any leaves off my trees just yet. I’m not certain how large I should let them get before I do, but I’ll probably wait another year.
If you have any questions about growing your own Kaffir Lime tree, please ask. Also, if you have experience growing them for yourself and you have a suggestion I’d be grateful for those too. I hope to include updates on my trees as they grow.
green thumb and fork 