If you are planning your spring garden and scouring through seed catalogues, here’s a thought for you. You could grow a salsa garden this spring. The structure of a themed garden is rewarding and allows you to harvest the plants for your salsa all at the same time. Plus, having all the ingredients in your own backyard makes serving up tapas very gourmet and yet sneekily easy.
Why Grow a Salsa Garden
So often when we first start gardening, we throw things in the garden beds and hope for the best, learning as we go. Then when things start maturing and ripening, we build our meals around what is available in the garden. This often lends itself to single vegetable dishes. Green lettuce in the spring, squash in the summer, tomatoes in the late summer, etc.
But just the same as if you were training for a triathlon, growing your garden with a goal in mind is so much more rewarding. There are times when gardening can be frustrating. We’ve all had that morning when our greens are decimated by a rabbit, or the biggest tomato pecked by a bird.
So when we have those gardening wins it is so rewarding. And knowing that all of the ingredients for fresh salsa have come from your own garden is amazing! Growing with that goal in mind has the ability to help us through frustrating times.
What Plants to Use
- Tomatoes. Of course. But what kind? Well, for salsa I would recommend a paste – type tomato like a Roma or a San Marzano. These are meaty and have very little juice, which makes them perfect for salsa. Slicing tomatoes are juicier and better for Caprese, sandwiches, or a Panzanella salad. But for salsa, the meatier, the better. Need some guidance on growing tomatoes?
- Onions. Onions are easy to grow, so you can be a little creative here. However I love the flavor of red onions, which are slightly more mild than yellow onions, but not quite as tame as white onions. Small bunching onions are fun, too. Try several varieties, because onions won’t regrow after being harvested, so you will need quite a few for your fresh salsa to last through the summer.
- Peppers. While you won’t need a lot of pepper plants, since peppers are so prolific, it is fun to try a few different varieties. Jalapeños are, of course, the most traditional and lend a medium heat. Plus they are easy to grow. If you want to increase the heat, try Serrano, habanero, scotch bonnets, or whatever suits you. For a more mild salsa, bell peppers or anaheims also work great. It never hurts to try one pepper of each heat level, then you can mix it up. Here are some tips for growing peppers:
- Cilantro. It’s the cilantro which gives salsa that fresh, summery flavor. Fortunately, cilantro is easy to grow. If you live in place with hot summers when the tomatoes are getting ripe, you’ll want to position the cilantro in the shade of the tomato plants, otherwise it will bolt long before the tomatoes have ripened. Cooler weather allows cilantro to stay leafy longer.
- Garlic. To have garlic ready for summertime salsa, plant it from individual cloves in the fall when the weather starts cooling. Any type of garlic will do, however softneck garlic is the easiest to grow. But if you are looking to be a little more adventurous, try a hard neck or a rocambole.
How to Plan your Salsa Garden
Growing a salsa garden is all about timing. While the garlic is planted in the fall, the other plants have to be put in the ground after all threat of frost has passed in your area. And cilantro in particular has a very short life in hot weather, so it can be hard to time everything just right.
First thing first. And for salsa gardening, the garlic is first. Put that in the ground in the fall for most climates. Onions are next. You will want to plant seeds in your garden beds (directly outside for most zones) approximately one month prior to the last frost.
The peppers and tomatoes are most often planted from starts. If you are going this route, purchase and plant your tomato and pepper plants after all threat of frost has passed. If you prefer to start from seed, you will need to plan a bit ahead.
Tomatoes should be seed started indoors under grow lights about 6 weeks before the last frost in your area. Peppers need even more time and warmth to develop, so you will want to start them indoors as early as 12 weeks before your last frost. For peppers, you will not only want a bright light but also a seedling warming mat. Pepper seeds really need the heat to get growing. When you transplant them outside, make sure they are in a spot with a lot of sun.
Last up is your cilantro. This can be started outdoors any time during the summer months. be sure to protect it from very warm weather or it will not last long. Surprisingly, cilantro does really well in full sun in the springtime, but performs much better in the shade during the hotter months. Try placing the cilantro in the shade of the tomatoes.
What else do I need for fresh salsa?
Actually, not much else. One very important ingredient is lime juice. This gives fresh Pico de Gallo its trademark flavor. And salt, to taste of course. Sure there are other things you can add, but we prefer the traditional, fresh clean flavor of a simple salsa.
If you have leftovers, you can use it on top of baked fish, add it to your Taco Tuesday chicken slow cooker, or save it for your scrambled eggs.
