Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Cilantro

A year or so ago, I was in love with thyme. Then I went on a rosemary jag. This summer I couldn't get enough cilantro. So here's an idea -- what if I tried to grow some indoors in a pot?

Planted seeds and kept them watered. Spindly little seedlings (that looked so puny compared to the seedlings when they grew outdoors in the garden) needed sun. So into the front bay window they went. But once that little pot moved away from my kitchen sink, I could no longer remember to spritz it with water several times a day. As the seedlings looked more and more pitiful, I discovered that there were some tiny cilantro plants, with sturdy stalks, in the garden.

Hey, I could transplant them and bring them indoors! They didn't transplant well. Pout. I think I'm going to have to pay money to the produce department for an occasional cilantro fix this winter.

How DO people start their plants indoors in late winter and early spring? Every time I try growing things indoors, they just turn into little thread-like green things that can't even stand up in their potting soil.

4 comments:

  1. Grow lights - or at least, florescent shop fixtures rigged into cobbled-together bookshelves or utility shelving. With a lamp timer to turn the lights on and off. At least, that's my plan for this January.

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  2. I haven't figured that out either, Susan. When I try to start plants indoors they start out looking great, but by the second leaf they become spindly and fall over.

    And the cilantro craze hit me too! The crazy thing for me is that whatever type of cilantro I started planting in my garden is self-perpetuating, and spreads like crazy. I thought it was an annual, but mine sure isn't.

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  3. My cilantro might come back next year? Oooooh. I hope so!

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  4. Our problem is that we eat so much cilantro that I never seem to plant enough in our garden, let alone enough under a florescent lightbulb inside. Lucky for me that our local Walmart is trying to entice the Mung population away from the Asian grocery stores--they have a fabulous and diverse produce department. Big bunches of green, leafy and cheap cilantro are always available. It is the best Walmart produce department I have ever seen.

    In the summer, I will often find little girls having tea parties under the maple tree in the backyard. Herbs and vegetables or berries from the garden are always on the menu, but everyone's favorite is the cilantro leaves. Who would guess that?

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