Ancient spice traders carried ginger well beyond its native soil in Southeast Asia into Europe, Africa, and beyond. What made ginger so valuable? Fire. Ginger’s spicy, warming root offered up stimulating flavor and potent medicine like no other. Used to ease inflamed conditions, like nausea and digestive distress, arthritis, and aching muscles and tendons as well as to stimulate appetites of all kinds, this amazing root has begun to reveal his secrets to modern scientists and herbalists alike, offering us new insight to just how and why ginger truly is a warming spice for health and life.

Come with us on a journey into the world of ginger in this edition of The Practical Herbalist’s Herbal Folio series. We’ll explore ginger’s medicinal properties, the conditions it best treats, and how to make good ginger medicinal preparations. We’ll take a look at Ginger’s cautions. Then, we’ll look at how ginger can be used in the house and in caring for our animal companions. We’ll get practical tips on how to grow and harvest ginger, and delve into the folklore, myths, and historical and magical uses of ginger. As always, we’ll give you a few recipes to get you started in making ginger a part of your life. Learn more about this favorite of the Spice Trail with this edition of The Practical Herbalist’s Herbal Folio Series.