Andrea, to amend the sand I just dig in potting soil when planting seedlings. I would love to have a compost pile and proper garden plot but it's not allowed. I live in a 55 plus community and even the tomato and pepper plants are really a no-no. Don't tell anyone! ;)
Thanks for sharing your method, Cindy. Seems like a 55+ community should be the perfect place to have a community garden. It would be better than a patch of lawn or something similar with no function.
Hi Andrea, thanks for the video tour of your garden! It’s so neat and orderly! I rooted one of the lemongrass stalks you gave me at a cooking class, and it literally grew to about 4 feet wide and tall! Our gardeners dug it up when they re-landscaped, so I have to start over. My tarragon and oregano are occupying about 6 sf of garden bed each from reseeding themselves. I have some snow peas, cilantro, thyme, mint, Roma tomatoes, sweet million cherry tomatoes, a poblano pepper, Swiss chard, and fennel growing right now. I have an enormous makrut lime tree in the yard, so I have those leaves to add flavor. I added a couple to your mushroom and white bean stew this week. I’m on the sunnier side of the Santa Cruz mountains in Los Gatos.
What an amazing garden you have, Maia! I'm sorry the lemongrass has to be rebooted. Now's the season to do it, though. The warmth in Los Gatos is perfect for all those summer veggies and herbs. Wow.
I loved seeing your garden! In chilly, smoky, dry Hudson Valley, I'm just getting started. Lots of tomatoes are in, plenty of onions, garlic, two types of basil, but I'm planting more, kale, Tokyo turnips, chiles, two types of rosemary and a lemon verbena.
I'm sorry to hear about your air situation. It reminds me of our 2020 local wildfires. Hopefully, things will clear up for you soon. Mother Nature will bless you, just like your garden will. I've never grown onions or garlic with much success. Ditto for tomatoes, which can be plentiful but not flavorful. You must get decent warm weather in the Hudson Valley?
We do get lovely warm sunny weather, just not for the next few days. And I will have amazing tomatoes and garlic and onions to store and eat until the New Year. Best of luck with your newest book!
Loved your garden tour! I am inspired to start a few more things in pots. We have a deer problem so all my flowers are in deck in pots but we live in a rock, , not much soil but where there is dirt I have a few things deer don't like and herbs are one of them. However my oregano has never spread probably needs better nutrition and sun. My mint is scraggly and lemon balm spreads very well. any use for lemon balm?
Thank you for the tour. Ps I also have your new book
If this helps, I'm growing the cherry tomato in one of those felty collapsible pots. I bought a set at Costco! Deer are big eaters. Yikes.
For a soothing bedtime tea, steep lemon balm sprigs in water and then strain. It's a bit similar to Vietnamese balm (kinh gioi) so you could try it in salads. Try it in one of the salads in Ever-Green Vietnamese. Maybe the cucumber, kale and spicy nuts salad. It would do with the green papaya salad too.
Thanks for getting the book. I look forward to hearing about what you cook up from EGV!
Wow! I love how you decided to grow your herbs because you didn’t have a Vietnamese market near you. I guess I take for granted living in Orange County & having an abundance of Viet supermarkets.
You're very lucky. The Asian markets need shoppers. I grew up in Orange County and lived in Los Angeles for years. I was never super close to Asian markets. Plus my dad taught me how to garden so I keep it up. It's fun to nurture plants. The payoff is the super fresh flavor.
Hi Andrea! Thank you so much for sharing your garden!! I can just about smell it when you press the leaves between your fingers! I’m in Lake Tahoe and starting a new garden from scratch this year. It’s still quite chilly, so sloooooow going, but I’ve got some different mints, basils, would love to grow rauraum if I can find it, various little cherry tomatoes, 3 different summer squash, armenian cuke, peas, a couple of different bush beans, and it’s all a big experiment to see what survives. After this winter, I had sorrel and chives that survived in pots and I think they must be the strongest plants around! haha. You’ve inspired me to try lemongrass and shiso too! Thank you!!
It's been strangely cool this year, right? You must have such a nice amount of space for all that? Gardening is an experiment! I'm not about to go into farming. I'd probably go broke because I'm not that diligent.
Armenian cucumbers are delicious. You've reminded me to look for Chinese and Japanese cucumber plants at my nursery. Thank you!
I suppose it depends on what you mean by grassy. To me, it has a coriander/cilantro flavor that's woodsy. It's not super cilantro-y. The leaves are thicker than those of cilantro. Some people adore cilantro but it's not required in many Viet or Southeast Asian dishes. It plays a big role in Puerto Rican fare, for example. Sometimes it's combined with cilantro.
I just learned that if you grow culantro in partial shade the leaves are softer and more flavorful. Mien are in the sun right now. Trimming the flowers is suppose to force better leaf growth too. So much learning in the garden! But it’s fun. :)
Oh gosh, is it only me? I was thrilled to get a peek at your garden (your plants look so happy and healthy) but even though I had my volume turned all the way up, I could barely hear you and there were no captions to help... alas!
Anyway, a question: where did you source your seeds/plants for the rarer herbs?
I am in Florida trying to grow plants in our sandy soil. I have amended it and it does help some. I have tomatoes, cilantro, chives, two kinds of mint, green onions, parsley, lemon balm, basil and several pepper varieties growing. As a retired senior, I get such joy from my little plot of dirt and seeing the tomatoes and peppers pop out gives me a daily dose of excitement. I enjoy your posts, in the video I could almost smell all the fresh herbs!
Cindy -- I totally agree about gardening. Happiness is spending hours digging around, pulling weeds and planting new babies. Florida is paradise for tropical plants. Southeast Asian herbs go wild there. I've been to Atlanta and seen produce grown in Florida and been astounded. Your homegrown bounty is amazing!
What do you amend the soil with to get things growing?
I live in Glasgow, Scotland, so not only is the weather not conducive to growing some types of herbs, they aren't readily available in the shops either. That said, I've planted some seeds of Thai holy basil, sweet basil, culantro, and garlic chives this summer with varied success so far! I live in a south-facing apartment so I get lots of sunlight (Glasgow weather permitting) but I still haven't seen a peep out of my chives and my culantro. I'm worried they'll never germinate! My basil is doing well, however, so there's still some hope...
Jess -- if you can sprout basil, the others should sprout too. Glasgow, Scotland, weather may be somewhat similar to our weather in the coastal Bay Area. Today, the temps will hit around 65F/18C. It's our first sunny morning in about a week. Some people are wearing down, others are brave and wear short sleeves.
I've found that I have to move my herbs around the garden to find a spot where they are happy. Thank you so much for your dispatch from Scotland!
This year I am trying to grow some culantro as well as multiple types of shiso. I have some volunteer cilantro/coriander coming up, but it bolts here in Colorado very quickly as our summers heat up; I usually don't get much of a harvest. Fortunately we have abundant fresh cilantro year round in our regular grocery stores!
I agree with you about small berries, especially small strawberries, but have a tough time finding them in the farmer’s market. Can you recommend a vendor in the Santa Cruz area that grows them?
Ronald at Wind Mill Farm tells me to just wait for them. Berries start out big in the beginning of the season and then get smaller as the season progresses. Also try the folks at the Saturday Cabrillo market in mid to late summer. I buy their berries by the bag and freeze what I can't eat.
Andrea, to amend the sand I just dig in potting soil when planting seedlings. I would love to have a compost pile and proper garden plot but it's not allowed. I live in a 55 plus community and even the tomato and pepper plants are really a no-no. Don't tell anyone! ;)
Thanks for sharing your method, Cindy. Seems like a 55+ community should be the perfect place to have a community garden. It would be better than a patch of lawn or something similar with no function.
You are welcome! My thoughts also. :)
Hi Andrea, thanks for the video tour of your garden! It’s so neat and orderly! I rooted one of the lemongrass stalks you gave me at a cooking class, and it literally grew to about 4 feet wide and tall! Our gardeners dug it up when they re-landscaped, so I have to start over. My tarragon and oregano are occupying about 6 sf of garden bed each from reseeding themselves. I have some snow peas, cilantro, thyme, mint, Roma tomatoes, sweet million cherry tomatoes, a poblano pepper, Swiss chard, and fennel growing right now. I have an enormous makrut lime tree in the yard, so I have those leaves to add flavor. I added a couple to your mushroom and white bean stew this week. I’m on the sunnier side of the Santa Cruz mountains in Los Gatos.
What an amazing garden you have, Maia! I'm sorry the lemongrass has to be rebooted. Now's the season to do it, though. The warmth in Los Gatos is perfect for all those summer veggies and herbs. Wow.
I loved seeing your garden! In chilly, smoky, dry Hudson Valley, I'm just getting started. Lots of tomatoes are in, plenty of onions, garlic, two types of basil, but I'm planting more, kale, Tokyo turnips, chiles, two types of rosemary and a lemon verbena.
I'm sorry to hear about your air situation. It reminds me of our 2020 local wildfires. Hopefully, things will clear up for you soon. Mother Nature will bless you, just like your garden will. I've never grown onions or garlic with much success. Ditto for tomatoes, which can be plentiful but not flavorful. You must get decent warm weather in the Hudson Valley?
We do get lovely warm sunny weather, just not for the next few days. And I will have amazing tomatoes and garlic and onions to store and eat until the New Year. Best of luck with your newest book!
Loved your garden tour! I am inspired to start a few more things in pots. We have a deer problem so all my flowers are in deck in pots but we live in a rock, , not much soil but where there is dirt I have a few things deer don't like and herbs are one of them. However my oregano has never spread probably needs better nutrition and sun. My mint is scraggly and lemon balm spreads very well. any use for lemon balm?
Thank you for the tour. Ps I also have your new book
Have yet to try anything. Viet food is new to me!
If this helps, I'm growing the cherry tomato in one of those felty collapsible pots. I bought a set at Costco! Deer are big eaters. Yikes.
For a soothing bedtime tea, steep lemon balm sprigs in water and then strain. It's a bit similar to Vietnamese balm (kinh gioi) so you could try it in salads. Try it in one of the salads in Ever-Green Vietnamese. Maybe the cucumber, kale and spicy nuts salad. It would do with the green papaya salad too.
Thanks for getting the book. I look forward to hearing about what you cook up from EGV!
Wow! I love how you decided to grow your herbs because you didn’t have a Vietnamese market near you. I guess I take for granted living in Orange County & having an abundance of Viet supermarkets.
You're very lucky. The Asian markets need shoppers. I grew up in Orange County and lived in Los Angeles for years. I was never super close to Asian markets. Plus my dad taught me how to garden so I keep it up. It's fun to nurture plants. The payoff is the super fresh flavor.
Hi Andrea! Thank you so much for sharing your garden!! I can just about smell it when you press the leaves between your fingers! I’m in Lake Tahoe and starting a new garden from scratch this year. It’s still quite chilly, so sloooooow going, but I’ve got some different mints, basils, would love to grow rauraum if I can find it, various little cherry tomatoes, 3 different summer squash, armenian cuke, peas, a couple of different bush beans, and it’s all a big experiment to see what survives. After this winter, I had sorrel and chives that survived in pots and I think they must be the strongest plants around! haha. You’ve inspired me to try lemongrass and shiso too! Thank you!!
It's been strangely cool this year, right? You must have such a nice amount of space for all that? Gardening is an experiment! I'm not about to go into farming. I'd probably go broke because I'm not that diligent.
Armenian cucumbers are delicious. You've reminded me to look for Chinese and Japanese cucumber plants at my nursery. Thank you!
When I had culantro I found it to have a very grassy taste. Is that normal?
I suppose it depends on what you mean by grassy. To me, it has a coriander/cilantro flavor that's woodsy. It's not super cilantro-y. The leaves are thicker than those of cilantro. Some people adore cilantro but it's not required in many Viet or Southeast Asian dishes. It plays a big role in Puerto Rican fare, for example. Sometimes it's combined with cilantro.
Definitely woodsy. I probably should have tore it up finer and let it steep more in the broth
I just learned that if you grow culantro in partial shade the leaves are softer and more flavorful. Mien are in the sun right now. Trimming the flowers is suppose to force better leaf growth too. So much learning in the garden! But it’s fun. :)
Oh gosh, is it only me? I was thrilled to get a peek at your garden (your plants look so happy and healthy) but even though I had my volume turned all the way up, I could barely hear you and there were no captions to help... alas!
Anyway, a question: where did you source your seeds/plants for the rarer herbs?
At Viet market in Little Saigon. Next week in the short post, I'll talk about hunting for herbs. Thanks for asking!
I am in Florida trying to grow plants in our sandy soil. I have amended it and it does help some. I have tomatoes, cilantro, chives, two kinds of mint, green onions, parsley, lemon balm, basil and several pepper varieties growing. As a retired senior, I get such joy from my little plot of dirt and seeing the tomatoes and peppers pop out gives me a daily dose of excitement. I enjoy your posts, in the video I could almost smell all the fresh herbs!
Cindy -- I totally agree about gardening. Happiness is spending hours digging around, pulling weeds and planting new babies. Florida is paradise for tropical plants. Southeast Asian herbs go wild there. I've been to Atlanta and seen produce grown in Florida and been astounded. Your homegrown bounty is amazing!
What do you amend the soil with to get things growing?
I live in Glasgow, Scotland, so not only is the weather not conducive to growing some types of herbs, they aren't readily available in the shops either. That said, I've planted some seeds of Thai holy basil, sweet basil, culantro, and garlic chives this summer with varied success so far! I live in a south-facing apartment so I get lots of sunlight (Glasgow weather permitting) but I still haven't seen a peep out of my chives and my culantro. I'm worried they'll never germinate! My basil is doing well, however, so there's still some hope...
Jess -- if you can sprout basil, the others should sprout too. Glasgow, Scotland, weather may be somewhat similar to our weather in the coastal Bay Area. Today, the temps will hit around 65F/18C. It's our first sunny morning in about a week. Some people are wearing down, others are brave and wear short sleeves.
I've found that I have to move my herbs around the garden to find a spot where they are happy. Thank you so much for your dispatch from Scotland!
This year I am trying to grow some culantro as well as multiple types of shiso. I have some volunteer cilantro/coriander coming up, but it bolts here in Colorado very quickly as our summers heat up; I usually don't get much of a harvest. Fortunately we have abundant fresh cilantro year round in our regular grocery stores!
Your cilantro/coriander volunteers? Wowza. Thank goodness for the grocery stores and farmer's market supply of cilantro.
I agree with you about small berries, especially small strawberries, but have a tough time finding them in the farmer’s market. Can you recommend a vendor in the Santa Cruz area that grows them?
Ronald at Wind Mill Farm tells me to just wait for them. Berries start out big in the beginning of the season and then get smaller as the season progresses. Also try the folks at the Saturday Cabrillo market in mid to late summer. I buy their berries by the bag and freeze what I can't eat.
Thanks so much!