What Do You Do When Your Cilantro Bolts? Get Coriander!

I’m a big fan of making Mexican food, specifically fresh guacamole, so when I was planning out my garden for this year I was sure to make space for cilantro, an herb that is frequently used in Mexican and other Latino dishes. This was my first experience growing cilantro so I was unaware that bolting–when a plant uses all of its energy to make seeds rather than continue growing, this usually happens when the weather is warm–was a common problem with the herb. Apparently, cilantro, like humans, prefers to remain at room temperature (somewhere between 68 degrees and 74 degrees). Once cilantro feels the temperature rising, it bolts, and seeing as how New York has hot, muggy summers, my cilantro was destined to bolt early. Luckily, the seeds/fruit that cilantro produces after it bolts is another common herb: coriander, so all is not lost when your cilantro bolts.

After the jump, find out how to collect coriander seeds and tips on growing cilantro.

When Aphids Attack

I recently planted a Nasturtium plant in my garden but soon found it covered in tiny black bugs along the underside of the flower and the flower peduncle (the part that connects the flower to the stem). Horrors, I was dealing with aphids. I knew I wanted to keep my aphid-battles organic because I was planning on eating my Nasturtium flowers–they make lovely additions to salads and I also wanted to try making Hwajeon, a Korean sweet pancake that uses edible flowers. I went to my gardening books to try to find a solution. I read in one book that Cilantro is good at deterring aphids when planted next to targeted plants. Hurray! I actually had some Cilantro overflowing in another pot that I could easily move to next to my Nasturtiums. Unfortunately, the Cilantro companion-planning did not go over that well. Within a week there were still aphids on my Nasturtium. I had to find another mode of attack.