Wild Side Farms Herbaceous Updates
Happy May! Thank you for subscribing to our Wild Side Farms Herbaceous News Letter. We would like to communicate with you what is growing here on our herb farm, the herb of the month, herb bundles and more. We are excited to connect with you to share knowledge, services and ideas. Food is medicine, lets get out in your garden and grow it. Happy May! Thank you for subscribing to our Wild Side Farms Herbaceous Newsletter. We would like to share with you what is growing here on our herb farm, the herb of the month, herb bundles and more. We are excited to connect with you, to share knowledge, services and ideas. Food is medicine so let’s get out in your garden and grow!
Herb of May: Culantro (Eryngium foetidum); a distant cousin of Cilantro. Culantro is an herb that has a similar aroma and flavor to cilantro, but they are not the same plant. It has long, serrated leaves and looks a bit like long-leafed lettuce. Culantro has a stronger flavor than cilantro and is therefore used in smaller amounts. Unlike cilantro, it can be added during cooking rather than afterwards. You will find culantro specified in recipes for dishes from the Caribbean, Central America, South America, and Asia. Culantro is a favorite in our family and we love growing it in our garden. In Central Florida, grow Culantro in part shade with well draining soil. Culantro is rich in calcium and iron. Medicinally it has anti-inflammatory agents and is used in traditional medicines for fevers and chills. We offer a Salsa Bundle: Basil, Parsley and Culantro herb plants. Great for sofritos or homemade salsas fresh from the garden.
Whats new this month: In the upcoming weeks, we will be adding a few new herbs and summertime loving plants. Let’s see what’s growing: Tulsi Basil, Blue Spice Basil, African Blue Basil, Tansey, Garlic Chives, Longevity Spinach and Malabar Spinach. *** We have updates on our online store weekly***
Garden Tip of the month: We love shade cloths! With what feels like the dog days of summer upon us already we realized our garden was taking on the heat. We grow in an area where the sun is plentiful and the soil was getting really hot. We thought, lets get scientific! We took out our soil thermometer and received a reading of 97 F along the top of our soil. When the COVID shut down started, we sowed an array of seeds that might have been a tad late in the season! But what the hell? We're here trying to feed our friends and family, right? Lets give it a shot. We started carrots, cucumbers, beans, squashes, tomatoes, and lettuces. They were baking with air temperatures reading 105 F (in the mid day sun) and a topsoil temperature of 97 F. Too much sun can really stress plants, baking the moisture right out of plants and soil. Plants release moisture to cool themselves just like we do, but this only works up to a point. After building the structure and putting up our shade cloth we were amazed when we took the soil temperature and it showed us a reading of around 78 F degrees. For a seed to germinate and healthy plant to grow it needs the right environment. Many of the plants we love to grow do best in soil temperatures of 70 F to 85 F. Sun, water, food, temperature and love. We have high hopes that this year adding a shade cloth to our victory garden will dramatically prolong our growing season!If you're growing in a sunny hot area, consider getting a thermometer out and cooling things back down if needed. Hoop houses are such a fun shape. It truly gives your garden character and brings it alive. If you're container gardening and have the shade of oak trees you can always move your pots around to find their happy spot. It wont be hard to tell if your plants are getting too much sun.....Sun spots, leaves that turn whitish yellow ("bleached out" looking), and droopy plants with curled up dry leaves are some tell tell signs. Shade and mulch are two powerful tools on your journey to a thriving garden patch. Remember, mulch/straw is your friend, adding a layer over your soil helps to keep moisture in as well as weeds out, and eventually breaks down to feed soil biology and retain moisture. Keep growing, keep learning and stay wild.
Wild Side Services:
* Soon we will start offering garden installations. This is how my love for gardening got started and we would love to share that with people. If you're looking for summer vegetable gardens, native bee and butterfly or simply just ornamental. Lets grow your dream garden. Lush, Wild and Organic. We would love to hear your feedback (!) and if you have any further questions don't hesitate to contact us at wildsidefarmssrq@gmail.com Blessings ~ Wild Side Farms www.wildsidefarms.org
