Growing Cilantro

Cilantro is probably my favorite herb. That might be due to my love of Mexican food which often features this tasty plant. It is the one thing that we always have growing in the garden. My garden is productive all year, and by sowing cilantro seeds every month or so, I have a continual supply of delicious fresh cilantro. Lucky is the Southern California gardener! 

Plant the seeds 1/4 inches deep. Seed packages recommend spacing them 12 to 18 inches apart. I plant mine closer together because usually we eat them before they get large enough to go to seed. Mine are usually spaced 8 - 10 inches apart. I tend to plant the seeds around the perimeter of my beds. Here it is growing at the edge of this bed.

Usually I will plant about 8 plants at a time because that is the amount that we use for a month. This way we have a good supply but not so much that it goes to waste. I start planting seeds in one area of the perimeter, then the next month I plant further along the edge. That way I keep planting the seeds where cilantro has not been growing recently, moving clockwise around the edge of the bed. Rotating crops will help to prevent depleting the soil so the plants will be healthy.

The seeds of the cilantro plant are also used for cooking and are referred to as coriander. The plant is an annual, so periodically I let one plant go to seed so that the seeds can be collect to be planted later, and for cooking. The bees absolutely love the cilantro flowers which is another reason to let it go to seed. The more bees, the better!

Taken in June, this cilantro was 4 feet high and covered with tiny white flowers, and bees. (Sorry for the poor photo quality.)

Like most herbs, cilantro prefers full sun, well-drained soil and regular watering. It does best in the cool months of spring and fall. In areas with hot summers it does best in partial shade. During our very hot summers, I plant mine in the shade of the tomatoes as seen above. In warm winter areas (zones 8, 9, 10), fall planting results in vigorous plants all winter. 

The plants tend to grow quickly and it is best to harvest the plants while young. Harvest the leaves by pinching off the stems while taking care not to uproot the plant. You can prolong the harvest by taking only some of the leaves from each plant rather that stripping the whole plant at once. The plant will continue to produce leaves if you don't take all the leaves at once. 

Soon the plants will bolt, sending up flower stalks. While producing the flower stalk, the leaves become sparse. At this point, you can let the plant go to seed, or dig it up to make room for something else. I usually don't let flower stalks form unless I want to collect the seeds because the plant is taking nutrients from the soil and is really not producing good leaves anymore. One large plant that is left to go to seed will produce hundreds of seeds.

This is a plant which will reseed freely. In my garden it comes up everywhere, and that is fine with me. Right now it's growing in my compost pile.

It's happy to volunteer in the onion patch.

Why not grow around these bulbs?

I guess some people would consider this tendency to reseed a problem. Not this gardener. I need lots of cilantro to satisfy my cravings for guacamole!

Updates on Ginger and More

The ginger is growing! This is my first experience growing ginger. It is one of my favorite spices so I decided to plant the piece that was sprouting in my pantry. Here's a link to my post about growing ginger.  I planted four pieces of ginger in a clump.

The first sprout came up quickly, only 2 weeks after planting. 

Planted on Oct. 16, this sprout appeared on Oct 31.

The others have been much slower, in fact I was getting worried the others wouldn't grow. I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the fourth sprout and it finally came last week.

It's interesting that the four plants came up at different times so they are all different sizes. 

The third to arrive.

The youngest one was damaged as I pulled weeds and cultivated. I broke off the tip. OUCH. 

Being so new and tender, I guess I just bumped it with the trowel and it broke. Hopefully it will still grow. 

In other news:

I have been pleased with the way my new cabbage covers have held up to the wind and rain. 

Not one of them has suffered any damage so my design is handling what mother nature has offered so far. The plants are growing beautifully without any cabbage butterflies to bother them. Read how I made them here.

The peas are about 2 feet high and the trellis is holding up really well. 

I designed and built it last spring. It is built to be taken apart for storage but it has remained there, supporting beans and tomatoes in the summer, and now peas for our winter crop. The one thing I would change about the design is I would not bother with the horizontal strings. The crops don't really rely on them and the vertical strings seem sufficient. Here's the link if you want to see how mine is built.

The tangelo tree is loaded and the fruit is starting to turn orange. 

Here's what I see when looking up from my favorite patio chair.

I'm finally tackling the neglected corner of my yard which was a tangled mess and eye sore.

For years this corner was left completely alone, a doggy toy graveyard and thorny combination of duranta and rose.

Duranta erecta

Duranta berries

Of course some of my nemesis, the dreaded asparagus fern, was growing there too along with some jasmine. 

I am getting inspired to make something out of this corner. Right now I have blueberries on the brain. They are my favorite fruit so I may just put them in barrels along the back fence.

For now, the clean up continues but the planning has just begun.

And as always, sweet Bessie May is by my side.

Growing Garlic

Fall is the perfect time of year to plant garlic. The bulbs will grow roots now. If planted early they will sprout before the frost, then rest during winter. If planted later, they will sprout in spring, and then next summer the garlic will be ready for harvest. It's simple, quick and easy. With little effort, I will have enough garlic to satisfy my garlic-loving family and we won't have any kitchen emergencies where the garlic is gone and the pasta is boring.

It is best to purchase heads of garlic from your local nursery instead of planting what you buy in the grocery store. Grocery store garlic may have been sprayed to keep it from sprouting. Another reason is that there are so many varieties of garlic and you will be most likely to get the cultivars that grow best in your location if you purchase them at your local nursery. Ordering online works too, just be sure to select cultivars that favor the conditions in your garden.

Garlic comes in packages like this, with planting instructions included.

Inspect the bulbs to be sure that the roots have not started to grow from the bottom, 

and the bulbs have not yet sprouted green growth from the top. 

The bulbs should be firm and plump indicating they are fresh. You don't want to buy bulbs that have dried out, and are shriveled and loose inside the white skins.

Each head of garlic has several garlic cloves. 

When you plant the garlic, you break apart the head and separate each clove and plant them individually. Take care to keep the tough outer protective skins intact. Each separate clove will produce one head of garlic. Choose the largest cloves to plant because they will produce the biggest heads of garlic for harvest.

Choose a sunny location with well-drained soil, amended with organic matter. Garlic prefers to be on the drier side rather than in wet soil where it may rot. I'm planting mine along the edges of my raised beds. I've read that planting garlic around the edges will deter critters, and we all want to deter critters. The edges of my beds tend to dry out fastest because I use soaker hoses, so garlic grows well there. 

Don't plant garlic where you have grown plants from the onion family in the past 3 years. Years ago I printed out a couple of lists of companion plants which I keep handy as a reference. Both lists indicate that garlic should not be planted near beans or peas. I usually comply with the list even though I've not really read any studies to see if science confirms the importance of it. I'm not an expert on that subject, but I avoided planting the garlic where my peas are growing. Who wants to tempt bad garden karma?

Dig the area to loosen the soil. Remove any weeds. 

A little bone meal is a good idea. I sprinkle it, then mix it in with the trowel.

Plant individual cloves so the flat root side is pointing down and the tip pointing up.

Plant the cloves 4-6 inches apart, with the tops 2 inches below the surface. Rows should be spaced 10-14 inches. 

Cover them with soil.

Water them and cover them with mulch. Straw works well. Mulching is important to control the weeds as garlic does not produce well if it is competing with weeds. Thick mulch (6 inches of straw) is important in cold weather climates to protect the plants that may sprout before the freezing temperatures halt their growth. In spring, remove the mulch or most of it. Leaving some mulch will help control weeds. Here in my Zone 10 garden, thick mulch is not needed to protect from frost so I just covered mine with compost.

Next spring when the green tops start to grow, fertilize with fish emulsion or bloodmeal or pelleted chicken manure. Eventually woody flower stalks (called scapes) may grow from the largest bulbs. Remove the scapes to encourage the plant to produce larger bulbs. I have read that scapes can be used in cooking although I have not tried it. 

Water garlic deeply as their roots can grow more than 12 inches down. Cut back on the watering in June or when the plants start to turn yellow. This allows the garlic bulbs to firm up before being harvested.

 Start checking for mature heads of garlic in June as the green tops start to turn yellow. Harvest the garlic when the bulbs have formed individual cloves and the outer skin is tough, white and papery. Harvest the bulbs by digging them up instead of grabbing the tops and pulling them up. Pulling them up can damage the protective layers which can cause the bulb to rot. 

Dry the garlic in a well-ventilated, warm, dry place for a few days then gently brush off the dirt and remove the stems and roots. Store in a dark, dry, well ventilated space. If you want to braid the garlic, harvest the plants before the tops dry out. 

Harvesting Basil

My kitchen is filled with the scent of fresh sweet basil. I'm harvesting my plants, freezing the leaves so we can enjoy the taste of summer during winter's cold season. We dry some of the leaves, but most of them are frozen because we like to use the fresh leaves in pesto, on pizza, in sauces and even in our lemon basil martinis. 

There is not much happening in my garden right now, and my blog has been neglected as a result. The summer garden is fading and it is still too hot in my Los Angeles area garden to begin fall planting. It is the time of year I turn to indoor projects because gardening when the temps are above 105 degrees is just not my idea of a good time. I have been busy redecorating my breakfast room. The painting is done, now I'm sewing pillows and curtains. I'll post some pictures once it is completed. 

In the next couple of weeks I will finish pulling out the summer veggies and prepare the beds for winter crops. The basil and herbs are still going strong, the one bright spot left in my garden. I decided to leave one basil plant to see how long it will continue to produce into the fall/winter. The rest I'm harvesting. This is a time consuming process. Here's the method I use to try to make it as easy as possible.

Cut the large stalks close to the ground.

Holding the stalk, I turn it upside down and shake it to remove some of the debris that collects in the leaves.

Next I cut off the seed stems.

Read tips on harvesting sweet basil seeds here. 

When you are finished removing the seed pods it looks like this. 

These stalks/leaves are then taken into the kitchen to be washed and dried. Because we are in a drought in California, I try my best to conserve water. I collected the rinse water in a bucket, then used it to water my rosemary bush. 

I find that it is easiest to keep the leaves on the stems when washing them. After cutting the stems off of the larger stalks, they were placed under water and swished around.

Then I rinse the leaves under the spray water. 

Then I turn the stems upside down to wash the under side of the leaves, scrubbing the leaves between my fingers when needed.

The stems/leaves are then dried on towels. At this point the smell is almost overwhelming in my kitchen.

Once the water has evaporated I remove the leaves by stripping them from top to bottom.

I put one cup of leaves into a snack sized ziplock baggie and remove the air. 

The baggies are labeled using a permanent marker, and into the freezer they go. One plant produced 6 cups of leaves. 

One cup we left to dry completely to be used as a dried herb. There are 3 more plants left to harvest and I'm considering processing them in the food processor and freezing them in ice cube trays. 

Do you have any other suggestions for harvesting basil?