So, its my first season doing my own growing - and like most things I do for the first time, I am mucking it up. Hence, a lot of back-pedaling, doing a lot of research I probably should've already done.
The advantage? I am going to share it here with you! As I learn things, you'll learn them too, and maybe you won't muck up anything at all when you go to start your own plot in the backyard.
Today's lesson: Cilantro!
Yum with black beans and spices! Yum with chicken sausage and feta cheese! Yum in fresh home made salsa! Yum on garden fresh egg sandwiches!
What you need to know - that I didn't... don't let it flower!
Most herbs are this way. Where a flower signals the coming of fruits and vegetables on plants like tomato, and cucumber... flowers on the tops of plants like cilantro and basil, mean the plant will give more nutrients and energy to those flowering buds, than it will to the production of leaves = no more cilantro.
The solution: pluck them off before the buds mature to put the plants attention back on the production of new leaves, OR let them mature and resow themselves back into your garden, you'll have a new cilantro crop in a few weeks.
I really messed up this one because...not only did I not pluck off those flower heads before they matured, neither did I let them resow! I cut them for a nice fragarant bouquet for our kitchen island. They look beautiful and smell great, but I guess we will be getting the rest of our summer's cilantro elsewhere.
My defense: we got a pot of cilantro when we made our trip to Laurel Hill Gardens. The pot we got already had a few stalks that were thicker and more stick like - those on their way to flower. Those leaves closest to the flower, don't look like cilantro. We got some dill too and planted that next to our cilantro in our herb pot. I couldn't figure out if the flowering stalks of cilantro were tall stalks of dill ... did you know? Coriander used for seasoning are the seeds of the cilantro plant?
Always learning.
The silver lining: Our tomatoes are coming!
We learned (before planting) by talking with someone from our neighboorhood farm, Greensgrow, in order to prevent blossom rot , a common ailment of tomato plants both home-grown and commercial, smash up some egg shells in your tomato soil before planting your starter plants. The result - the egg shells will provide the plant with the extra calcium it needs to prevent blosson rot = beautiful, delicious fruit!
It looks like we're well on our way!
Hi T & C, saw T's link to this on FB, and since cilantro's one of my favorite things in the world, I had to look.
ReplyDeleteI grow the stuff using 'slow bolting' cilantro seeds. It'll keep the flowers away for a little longer, but to tell you the truth, my VERY favorite thing IS when it flowers and turns to seed. The flavor is amazing - you'll never get it in a store. And the seeds (corriander) when they're green are just ridiculously good. Don't let them dry...get 'em while they're still live. you can cook with them or just pop em in your mouth. SOOOOO amazing. so don't you be all 'I messed up' with your cilantro flowers. You hit the jackpot.
-Jennie S
Ha, Thanks Jennie. That's wonderful to hear. I am going to have to look into that tonight when I get home...hmmm, what to make for dinner tonight, including green seeds of course!
ReplyDelete