Growing Herbs: Cilantro
I recall my first taste of cilantro. I was in Boston and I went to an amazing taqueria, the kind where they make everything before your eyes out of wonderfully fresh ingredients. When they asked if I wanted some on my burrito, I had to taste it first. I loved it. When I got home I tried my hand at making a cilantro pesto and I was hooked.
The cilantro plant often reaches heights of up to three feet and has become very popular recently in Tex-Mex cuisine. If you only go by one look, you may think that parsley and cilantro are similar, however; once you try the sweet muskiness of cilantro you’ll know there is no comparison. Cilantro is the name of the leaves, which has wonderful pale pink blossoms, but the herb that comes from the seeds is known as coriander.
You can start your cilantro plant from seeds or purchase it from the local nursery, greenhouse or home improvement store. Because it is an annual, you will be starting fresh with new herbs each growing season. I love to plant my seeds in early spring and line the containers up on my kitchen windowsill so I don’t miss the little sprouts that will pop up in 7 to 10 days.
Cilantro herbs enjoy moist, rich sod, so it is better to cultivate them in a raised bed after the weather gets sunny. If your climate gets too hot, remember that your cilantro does like some light shade in the heat of summer. Don’t forget that if your cilantro gets too much sun or too much heat it will turn bitter.
It can take about nine weeks for your cilantro herb to go from seed to its awesome white, pale pink or lavender blossoms. You can positively wait until the weather gets warmer and then plant your cilantro right in the ground. Once you plant your seeds the sunny skies and warm weather along with a little rain can turn your seeds into sprouts in less than two weeks.
For the strongest tastes, try your fresh cilantro in your summer dinners. You can clip off a couple of leaves and either add them whole or dice them and add to your favorite Mexican meal.
You can even dry your cilantro and use it later for fall, winter and spring meals. Try to clip off the leaves just before the plant blossoms so that the foliage will have a heavy concentration of oils. You can get nice outcomes if you dry this plant on a drying rack. Remember that you’ll need more of the dried cilantro than you will the fresh because the taste will not be as concentrated.
You can harvest the coriander seed by drying them first—hanging them upside down in a paper bag works the best. Once the seeds have dried, you can release them from the pod by rolling them between your hands. Next you will want to freeze the seeds for at least 2 days and then keep them in a cool, dark place.
Because it is coriander is a curry spice, so the seeds can be crushed into a powder and used in baked dinners, soups, stews and casseroles.
Good luck with your herb gardening. Be sure to let me know how your herb garden grows.
Here is more information on Herb Garden Plants. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Herb Gardens.
Tags: cilantro, gardening, growing herbs cilantro, Herb Garden Plants, herbs
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