Growing Mexican Ingredients in Zone 5a

[brianl]

Just got back from Humber Nurseries - no poblanos.

They had jalapeno, serrano, an orange and red habanero, scotch bonnet, various cayenne peppers but no poblanos. This is rather unfortunate.

I guess on the upside, poblanos are actually becoming regularly available around here.

Brian

[Darienne]

Just got back from Humber Nurseries - no poblanos.

They had jalapeno, serrano, an orange and red habanero, scotch bonnet, various cayenne peppers but no poblanos. This is rather unfortunate.

I guess on the upside, poblanos are actually becoming regularly available around here.

Brian

Thanks for the report Brian. Besides Poblanos, Richter's carries seed for Anaheim, Pasilla (the dried name, De Arbol, so we are out quite a bit.

I will go to Richter's (Goodwood) as soon as the time is right and get tomatillos and Mexican oregano. They also have a book on growing and using chile peppers for $12...which as I recall I could not find on Amazon.com or ca...so I'll take a look at it. Chile Peppers Beth Harman.

Don't want to grow the little hotties. You can buy them all year long everywhere. Thanks again.

[Trev]

I found chaya at Humber Nurseries today. Looking forward to growing that 'round here.

They didn't have any epazote left, but they had scotch bonnets and lemon verbena, and that made me happy.

[CaliPoutine]

Sorry if you already knew that, but I'm really surprised that you aren't able to find it. I would generally expect it to be in most grocery stores, even in the smaller towns. I shop fairly regularly in two grocery stores in Orillia, Ontario (not suggesting you go to Orillia to get cilantro, it's just fairly small, population about 30,000), and I can't remember any occasion they didn't have it.

Hope that helps,

Brian

I cant believe you cant find it where you live. We had it in Exeter( pop 4400). Although, they called it Corriander( on the reciept). That bugged me because thats the seed, not the leaf.

When I lived in Exeter, I could even get jicama too.

[rebgold]

Another thing to consider is that if you plan on really making anything of quantity from your garden you'll need several of each plants. Some hot peppers will produce heavily towards the later part of the season but tomatillo and most of the larger peppers won't give you enough at one time to make a dish that serves more than one person.

[Darienne]

Sorry if you already knew that, but I'm really surprised that you aren't able to find it. I would generally expect it to be in most grocery stores, even in the smaller towns. I shop fairly regularly in two grocery stores in Orillia, Ontario (not suggesting you go to Orillia to get cilantro, it's just fairly small, population about 30,000), and I can't remember any occasion they didn't have it.

Hope that helps,

Brian

I cant believe you cant find it where you live. We had it in Exeter( pop 4400). Although, they called it Corriander( on the reciept). That bugged me because thats the seed, not the leaf.

When I lived in Exeter, I could even get jicama too.

Sorry if my post was not clear. It was not carried in one store Ed went into...they were out in another. However, he didn't ask for coriander, that's true. I know they don't carry it in our local grocery store, but then they don't carry eggplant either.

Furthermore, Peterborough is quite an insular, non-mosaic small city with very few minorities, other than Asian and Trent University students. It's just the way it is. I have seen Jicama at the one store downtown which tends to cater to the various minority groups in the city, but not every time. Nor cassava. We do have two Asian markets...or maybe three. We can get just about everything Asian for cooking.

One major Mexican restaurant, a popular chain elsewhere in Ontario,with the best location in the entire city folded up about a year ago. Another small independent one opened several months ago and I spoke to the owner recently and it's not doing well. I asked why he has no pork on the menu: folks here won't eat it in Mexican food. Etc. I might add that he has a thriving restuarant in Port Perry which is 9,500 compared to Peterpatch at about 70,000. Etc.

[Darienne]

Another thing to consider is that if you plan on really making anything of quantity from your garden you'll need several of each plants. Some hot peppers will produce heavily towards the later part of the season but tomatillo and most of the larger peppers won't give you enough at one time to make a dish that serves more than one person.

Thanks, rebgold. I was really looking forward to growing Mexican ingredients, but I think more for the joy of the growing than the usefulness of the eating. Because I am not a gardener, I didn't think about it soon enough and the peppers are out for this year. It still leaves me the tomatillos and the Mexican oregano, both of which I can buy as plants (the lady bristled noticeably when I called them seedlings but I don't know why) and the epazote which I can do indoors. I have to phone back and see when Richters gets them in and then think about replanting them. June 1st is the usual date in this region for frost being over.

[Darienne]

I found chaya at Humber Nurseries today. Looking forward to growing that 'round here.

They didn't have any epazote left, but they had scotch bonnets and lemon verbena, and that made me happy.

Never heard of chaya so I Wiki'd it. Quoting: "The leaves must be cooked before being eaten, as the raw leaves are toxic."

Not planning salads, I hope. I think I'll just pass on this one.

[Jaymes]

I found chaya at Humber Nurseries today. Looking forward to growing that 'round here.

They didn't have any epazote left, but they had scotch bonnets and lemon verbena, and that made me happy.

Never heard of chaya so I Wiki'd it. Quoting: "The leaves must be cooked before being eaten, as the raw leaves are toxic."

Not planning salads, I hope. I think I'll just pass on this one.

But that does bring to mind a couple more things - chayote and jicama.

[rancho_gordo]

Another thing to consider is that if you plan on really making anything of quantity from your garden you'll need several of each plants. Some hot peppers will produce heavily towards the later part of the season but tomatillo and most of the larger peppers won't give you enough at one time to make a dish that serves more than one person.

But be careful with tomatillos. Each fruit has tons of seeds. In a garden if you have them once, you'll have them forever.

[Trev]

I found chaya at Humber Nurseries today. Looking forward to growing that 'round here.

They didn't have any epazote left, but they had scotch bonnets and lemon verbena, and that made me happy.

Never heard of chaya so I Wiki'd it. Quoting: "The leaves must be cooked before being eaten, as the raw leaves are toxic."

Not planning salads, I hope. I think I'll just pass on this one.

Nope, not planning on using it in salads, but I did have it a couple of weeks ago in Mexico, fried with some chorizo, and it was just excellent. I even went for seconds. I love to try new stuff and this one is new (to me) for sure.

[rancho_gordo]

I found chaya at Humber Nurseries today. Looking forward to growing that 'round here.

They didn't have any epazote left, but they had scotch bonnets and lemon verbena, and that made me happy.

Never heard of chaya so I Wiki'd it. Quoting: "The leaves must be cooked before being eaten, as the raw leaves are toxic."

Not planning salads, I hope. I think I'll just pass on this one.

Nope, not planning on using it in salads, but I did have it a couple of weeks ago in Mexico, fried with some chorizo, and it was just excellent. I even went for seconds. I love to try new stuff and this one is new (to me) for sure.

It's incredibly healthy. I did have it in a juice with pineapple and I'd be surprised if it were cooked. It's great stuff but I would think very frost sensitive as it's from the Yucatan. I think it would be great to try and grow it.

[Trev]

It's great stuff but I would think very frost sensitive as it's from the Yucatan. I think it would be great to try and grow it.

I expect it would be, too. I'm hardening it off right now, bringing it in at night, and won't be planting delicate plants until June 1st.

[Darienne]

How does one know when the tomatillos are ready to harvest? Thanks.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

The husks will go from soft to crinkly in texture and begin to split open near the bottom of the fruits.

[andiesenji]

You can begin picking and using them as soon as they are close to an inch in diameter.

The husks will grow first and the fruit will then begin to "fill" it but I just pick them when I need them and allow the remainder to keep growing.

In my experience, they produce more flowers and more fruit as the earlier ones are picked.

[Darienne]

Thanks both Andie and PanaCan.

I have a few tomatillos which fit into Andie's category

The plugs were planted late and furthermore in two batches. Still I am faithfully watering them every night and watching them grow. They are doing pretty well, but then it's been hot for days, which is unusual, with more to come. They are probably sufficiently confused to think that they are living in a more southerly growing zone.

[andiesenji]

Last year I sent some seeds to a friend in England (in a village east of Lincoln) who planted some seedlings against a south-facing wall in her kitchen garden and says they are growing like weeds.

She has harvested a few liters already and picks more every day. She finds they keep in a basket with plenty of air circulation, in her "larder" for at least a week.

She thinks they got a kick start because of the residual warmth of the wall keeping them warmer at night than they would have in a more exposed area.

[Darienne]

Your friend obviously planted her seeds from you in good time. I have a friend nearby and when I last saw her plants in June, they were way ahead of mine. Next year I'll get it straight.

Our south face is our front yard.

And I have to put all plants outside the fenced in yard. Our male Rotti will water anything which stands up more than 2". Unless I can put the plants high enough to discourage him. Bought the two pups a wading pool which they think is a great huge drinking bowl even while visiting dogs cavort in it. Next year it becomes a plant container and maybe I could put it up on blocks on a piece of plywood.

[andiesenji]

Your friend obviously planted her seeds from you in good time. I have a friend nearby and when I last saw her plants in June, they were way ahead of mine. Next year I'll get it straight.

Our south face is our front yard.

And I have to put all plants outside the fenced in yard. Our male Rotti will water anything which stands up more than 2". Unless I can put the plants high enough to discourage him. Bought the two pups a wading pool which they think is a great huge drinking bowl even while visiting dogs cavort in it. Next year it becomes a plant container and maybe I could put it up on blocks on a piece of plywood.

She planted her seeds in pots in her "sun room" and set the plants out at the beginning of April.

There are all kinds of barrier "fences" that fold up to store for the winter but which can protect plants from dogs. I string the lines with the fluttery ribbons that also deter birds along the tops and that discourages the dogs from jumping over the little fences.

[Trev]

Thought I would mention that prickly pear cactus grow really well here in Ontario. The winter knocks it down but when the spring comes it takes off like mad. I've been growing a couple plants here for about 3 summers now and they're huge. Once they get rolling it would be easy to sacrifice the odd bit of it for nopales. Wouldn't even miss it.

[Darienne]

Hi Trev, where did you get your cactus to start?

As for tomatillos...mine are getting there. They were planted late and so not too many have been harvested. It is now a race with the frost I guess.

Question: I should be nipping off all flowers and buds at this point? Should have started doing so back when?

[Trev]

I'm not sure what to say about the tomatillos, this is my first year growing them too.

The cactus I bought at a local nursery in the spring for a few bucks each, I guess about 3 summers ago. I never have bothered feeding or watering them, they're just so darn hardy nothing seems to affect them. The one is likely more than 4 feet across now, just unreal the size of the thing. It must have over 60 paddles on it. The other one had to compete with a rose bush, which I removed, but it's still pretty impressive.

[Jaymes]

The other one had to compete with a rose bush, which I removed, but it's still pretty impressive.

Did you know that a rose and cactus combination is something of an iconic southwestern image? Many folks plant them immediately adjacent to one another in the hopes they will entwine. You were totally 'on trend' and didn't know it.

Perhaps you should put the one that you removed back in!

Edited September 7, 2011 by Jaymes (log)

[sparrowgrass]

I planted Mucho Nacho jalapenos this spring, and they are terrific. Big peppers with thick walls, lots and lots of them on each plant, and they began bearing really early--mid July, I think--so I recommend them for those of you in cooler climes.

Did I mention that I had lots and lots? I think I messed up my tags on my seedlings, so I only have 3 bell peppers, but a dozen jalapenos and 4 serranos.