Plant Cilantro Now - You'll Have It For Months!

     Have you ever tried to buy fresh cilantro? It doesn't last long in the fridge, does it? To be fair, I think we are supposed to put the stems in a glass of water in the fridge, and it will keep. But even better is to just grow it yourself. Then you get to pick what you need, when you need it. There is nothing to compare to being able to go out in your jammies and picking all the cilantro you want to use in your scrambled eggs!   When have a hankering to make the simple restaurant salsa you'll just have to step out of your door to pick fresh cilantro that will put it over the top!  Here's what you should know.
     Cilantro likes cool weather. Even though you really want to eat it with your tomatoes in the heat of the summer, cilantro does not like heat. The really good news is that once you grow cilantro, you can keep it going forever. Plant cilantro seeds in either

Cilantro seedlings

the spring or fall. When planted in the fall, it will keep growing all winter long here in the mid-south. All you do is go out and pinch off what you need, as you need it. When the temperatures dip way down, your cilantro may get its edges bitten, but come the first mild day, it will perk right up and quickly put on a little bit of new growth.

Cilantro seeds--also known as Coriander

     Come spring, your fall plantings will start to get very tall. That tall stem is a flower stalk. You can still eat it. When it blooms, it will make umbel type blooms that attract beneficial insects. I always let 2 or 3 plants go to seed and plant my spring veggies around them. In June the seeds will turn brown and be “ripe.” Here's what I do. I collect some for planting in the fall. I use some for coriander. Yes, cilantro seeds are called coriander. It sells for a nice price in a little bitty bottle, but now you'll have your own. When you need it you can grind them up in a coffee-grinder or in a suribachi mortar and pestle. I leave some in the garden because for me, my best bet for the next season of cilantro is from the seeds that I have left in the garden. Then, even if I don't get out in the garden at the right time, or if my head is trying to convince me that it's too hot to do my fall planting, the cilantro volunteers sprouting alert me that it is indeed time to plant the seeds of fall!