School’s out, the weather is warm so it’s time to create some fun for everyone. How about a fun, family friendly activity that you can do as well? Try planting a Salsa Garden!
Planting a Salsa Garden is easy, fun, and great for the Santa Clarita Valley. Hot peppers love our climate as do tomatoes, add some cilantro and onions and you’ve got all the fixin’s you’ll need for excellent Salsa throughout the year. Make sure to select an area of your yard that will get six to eight hours of sunlight. Much more than that and you might bake your plants in SCV, so find a spot that gets a little shade in the late afternoon. If you live in a home or condo with little or no soil available, you can easily plant all of these in pots.
Here are a few varieties of peppers you might like to try are: Habaneros, Jalapenos, Mexibell or Poblano.
Your choices should be made based on your family’s preferences; you might want to plant more than one type of pepper based on the different tastes in your circle. Select from the above and you will be sure to make everyone happy.
Tomatoes that are meaty with great flavor and not too juicy are the best for salsa. Which means that paste tomatoes are often a good choice. Try these tomato varieties for great results: Roma, San Marzano, Black Krim, Brandywine or Beefsteak.
I have found that Roma tomatoes can be a little bit inconsistent so trying one of the other plum varieties might be a best choice.
You can also add a little extra to your salsa garden, try some tomatillos! They need the same conditions as tomatoes so popping a few into your garden will be both enjoyable and stretch your culinary talents. A detailed plan is on my blog. Make sure to fertilize and water regularly, the only other thing you will need is a great salsa recipe!
Julie Molinare is a certified landscape designer living in the Santa Clarita for over 15 years. Julie taught the Introduction to Landscape Design Class at CSUN – Tseng College of Extended Learning and is owner/designer of The Grass Is Always Greener Landscape Designs. For more information, please call 661-917-3521 www.thegrassisalwaysgreener.net.