Ginger Ginger Ginger Paper

You can DEFINITELY make paper from ginger stalks.

And the resulting handmade plant paper reaches the level of art in itself.

Back in the day at a Saturday farmer’s market, while everyone else had food on the mind, I had fiber-eyes. Fiber-eyes means viewing the world through paper-fiber-tinted-glasses, and seeing potential for papermaking everywhere. Super nerdy, but hey that's the papermaker's life.

Wishingstone Farm had these gorgeous fresh young, pink ginger roots. Yummy, yes, however—what about the plants that grew above the root?

Obviously I asked them: “Hey what do you do with the ginger stalks? Any chance I could get my hands on those? I made paper from plants.” 

They said, “Sure!” Cut scene to next week, where they hauled me a bundle of the fresh green stalks (I gave them seaweed paper notecards as a thank you). 

I chopped up, boiled, rinsed, pulped, and formed sheets.

The resulting 100% Rhode Island ginger stalk paper was so stunning, I still can’t believe it as I look at the sheet.

The ginger paper faded from a green to more of a green-tan (I’m convinced plant papers are living things that keep changing, shifting, and responding). 

It’s tough, not brittle. Light travels through this semi-transparent paper easily, highlighting the leafy, fibrous look. 

Sigh.