Monday, April 30, 2012

Culantro- The new Cilantro

I know that the picture doesn't look like much but, I found this plant at a little landscaper supply store.  It is called Culantro and it tastes just like Cilantro.  I am really excited about it.  Here in Houston we can't grow cilantro all year long.  I was told that culantro can be grown all year long.  We planted one of these at a clients house and it looks really good.  This one was in the sun too much and it did dry out for one day so that is why the leaves are a bit yellow.  I took this picture a couple of days ago and now it looks even better with new leaves coming up.  I did move it out of the sun and have been keeping it watered.  The growers for this particular plant is Bonnie.  This link takes you to the culantro page...http://bonnieplants.com/growing/growing-culantro/.  Culantro does bolt like cilantro when it gets hot and too sunny for the plant.  I am noticing that where I live it is doing great with just about 3-4 hours of sun a day.
I have read that it does not have a good shelf life so you only need to pick what you want to cook with that particular day.
I plan on testing this plant to see how it does throughout the year, especially when we get really hot. (101+ degrees.)  Stay tuned and I will give you reports.  I hope this plant is a keeper.  It would be nice to have a plant with that kind of flavor to use all year long.  I know you can get it in the store but I love the fact that we can go into the garden and pick what we want to eat.  Yum.

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