Gardening project #2: lemon grass

So after moving to Davis, I found out that I am violently, horribly allergic to Davis mosquitoes. Every time I get bit, it spreads out to be like 2 inches wide and itches and hurts like a bitch. I've never had a bad mosquito allergy before, but the ones here are obviously made of evil.

So, although I never cook with lemon grass and have no idea how, I read it helps deter mosquitoes. So, after scouring the gardening section of ACE and finding no lemon grass, I checked online and saw that you can just take the ones you find in the grocery store and stick it in water. I tried Safeway first, because it was the middle of the night when I read this and I just couldn't wait for the Asian market to open the next day, but no luck. Safeway has some but it has the end with the bulb cut off. So, I had to wait until the next day anyway and picked up some at Kim's Mart. Stuck it in some water, put it in a window, ignored it for like 2 weeks, and...



Success! The roots have since grown longer and I've planted some outside, but it seems to be growing painfully slow...little green shoots grow out from the top but it doesn't spread out or anything like I think its supposed to. And mosquito season is pretty much here...hm maybe I'll have to look for a more high cost alternative.