I always seem to want cilantro the most when it is most difficult to grow, which is when the weather is the warmest. Anyone who has tried to grow cilantro in the summer knows that not long after it finally germinates it starts to bolt. This summer I've stumbled upon a method of growing cilantro in warm weather that may be able to meet my needs. I've started to sow it in clumps wherever I can find a sunny slice of soil in the garden. The southern edges of the beds seem to be a perfect spot. Here's a few clumps that I sowed a while back.
It's so easy to harvest cilantro when it is grown in a clump, just pull the entire thing. You can just cut the greens off and discard the roots, or with a bit more careful washing you can chop roots and all, the roots are tender and delicious when they are young.
It helps if you have a lot of seeds, 8 to 12 seeds per clump will deplete a typical packet of seeds pretty quickly. But fortunately it is so easy to save cilantro seeds, just let a few plants bolt and you'll never have to buy the seeds again. The added bonuses of attracting beneficial insects and collecting seeds as a spice should make it just about mandatory to find a spot to allow a few cilantro plants to bloom.
Now that the tomato and green chile pepper harvests are about to start in earnest here I might have enough cilantro for all the salsas and summery dishes that I love to enliven with its fresh flavor.
It seem like every year, I tell myself that I will be good about sowing cilantro ever couple of weeks. Of course this never happens and I'm left cursing myself. I have a ton of tomatoes and jalapeno peppers at the moment to make salsa. Some homegrown cilantro would be perfect right now.
ReplyDeleteI'm very allergic to Cilantro (we call it Coriander), but I have grown it in the past, because my wife likes it. However, she found that home-grown Cilantro is far too strong for her taste - much more pungent than shop-bought stuff, whose flavour will have faded a bit before you buy it. Funnily enough we both like the coriander seed and we use a lot of it. I don't appear to be allergic to the seed, only the leaf, which is pretty strange.
ReplyDeleteI'm like Thomas. My intentions are good, but it never seems to happen. At least it self seeds easily and will come up every year even if I don't help it out.
ReplyDeleteIt volunteers all over my garden through the winter but I always have to pull it out to make room for other veggies so it disappears by summer unless I sow more seeds.
DeleteThat is great tip for growing cilantro. In the past I had a hard time with it - just as you said the plants barely germinated and they started to bolt. This has been my first successful year although I'm not sure if it was the variety (Slo-Bolt) or our very cool summer. I've never collected seeds - my first sowing bolted a while ago & hopefully I'll get enough to save seed for eating and sowing. That is a huge bag of seeds you have there - I can't even imagine how many plants you must have grown to get that many!
ReplyDeleteActually, all those seeds came from just a few winter grown plants. Cilantro will grow for months through the winter here and get huge before it bolts in the spring.
DeleteCilantro was one of my 'have to grow' herbs during the mild winter months in SC. I first saw a bolting plant at Tidal Creek FoodCoop in NC and fell in love with the plant even more. I love both the leaves and seeds. Unfortunately I have not been able to find seeds here in Grenada. However I found http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eryngium_foetidum which to me is a great replacement. I still would like to grow some cilantro.
ReplyDeleteGreat tip on growing them in clumbs here in the Caribbean-when I find my hands on some seeds.
Enjoy your harvest.
Lemongrass
Thanks for the tip in growing cilantro, I always forget to sow seeds when the weather heats up, maybe it will grow in a filtered light place in our climate, worth a try.
ReplyDeleteI have trouble getting cilantro to germinate where I sow it, but it freely germinates all over the garden where it has self sown. All my cilantro this year was volunteers. I'm grateful for that but I hit the farmers market when I need a big bunch.
ReplyDeleteNice job on the coriander seeds - I am about to harvest mine and I will probably get just a handful! I use a lot of cilantro for cooking (mexican, indian cuisine) but more so in the winter time. Right now, my cilantro is bolting just when I need it most ... I plan to make a big batch of salsa soon and will have to buy some.
ReplyDeleteI will have to try this method of planting. Our cilantro (corriander) bolts in winter too. If it rains too much all sorts. I swear its the hardest herb to have here. Mind you I persist, will have to give the clumping idea ago. cheers
ReplyDelete