Cilantro ( Coriandrum sativum ) is an herb that ’s used in endless formula . The new green leaf have a distinctive spirit and are used in dishes from about every continent . The dry out seeds , known as Chinese parsley , also bring their flavor and scent to numerous culinary tradition . Cilantro is promptly regain in the green goods section of most grocery stores , but growing your own is both simple and cost in effect .
Growing Cilantro
Cilantro is a phallus of the carrot kin . It ’s a non - hardy annual native to southerly Europe and North Africa . The foliation shape a foot - high hummock , and when the industrial plant go into flush , the flowering stubble can originate up to 3 infantry tall . Cilantro ’s leaves are a lush green , bring in this herb a beautiful addition to the garden . Not to bring up how welcome the flowers are to pollinator and other good insects .
The trouble with cilantro is that it prefers cool weather and will rapidly go to peak ( bolt ) when the weather warms . When the flowers appear , the flavor of the foliage variety . Although many raiser allow the industrial plant to flower so they can harvest the seeds as coriander , it ’s always a disappointment that fresh cilantro leaves are n’t “ in season ” the same time the tomato plant are . It makeshomemade salsaa difficult proposition .
If you ’d like to mature Coriandrum sativum of your own , you ’d do well to think of how much this herbaceous plant like cool conditions . Seeds are typically sown at once into the garden in very early natural spring . Here in Pennsylvania , many growers sow their first crop of cilantro in former March or former April . The leaves are ready to harvest by late May , and they can continue to be harvested until the plants go into flower in other July .
Getting More Out Of Your Planting
However , I get the good production from Chinese parsley that ’s institute in the gloam . I do this two ways . First , I sow new cilantro ejaculate into the garden in early August . If I keep the seedling well - watered until summertime ’s high temperature subsides , I ’m able to harvest quite a minute of fresh foliation from mid - September up until the plants freeze in November or December .
My 2nd downslope - implant cilantro harvest is the one that often result in the biggest yield . When cold temperatures arrive — around here , that ’s sometime after Thanksgiving — I lead back out to the garden to plant more cilantro seeds . I found them very shallowly ; scarce cut through them with a light-headed bed of soil . The seeds will baby-sit dormant all winter long and germinate at precisely the right time the following spring . In my experience , this cilantro craw produces the magnanimous , healthiest leaves with little help from me . I ’m able to harvest fresh cilantro as early as April with this late - fall planting . Plus , in my garden , these plants often seem to be irksome to run off , take their sweet prison term and relent bunches and clump fresh foliage .
To glean my coriander , I expend a sharp pair ofherb snipsto make out off the folio . Then I cursorily wash them under frigid , running water , and displume the folio rather than chop them . If I ’m glean cilantro for later use , I put the gelded end of the stem into a glass of water on the kitchen counter . They ’ll last for several days if I occasionally mist the leave with water system from a squirt bottle .
