How I use herbs - coriander (or cilantro)

Its winter and coriander (Coriandrum sativum) is coming up in my garden. Outside of the sub-tropics, coriander is a spring/summer annual, but it quickly bolts in hot weather, so it grows better here in winter. This herbs is known by its Spanish name, cilantro, in the US (and obviously in countries that speak Spanish). Coriander is an ancient herb and spice, that is used in cuisines as varied as Indian, Chinese, Mexican, Egyptian and Mediterranean.

eight acres: growing and using coriander (cilantro)

How I grow coriander

You can get coriander as seedlings, but I usually plant it from seed. When it goes to seed in my garden, I scatter the seeds and they come up the next year. I also throw a few extra saved seeds around the garden in early in winter, to make sure I get plenty of coriander. It does grow better here in the colder months, and quickly bolts to seed when the weather warms up or if the soil dries out. The flowers are popular with bees and other pollinators, also resulting in plenty of seeds for next year's crop and for use as a spice.

This is my garden at the moment!

How I use coriander
Both the leaves and seeds of coriander can be eaten (also the roots apparently, but I haven't tried them).

- the leaves are good for digestion, and add a fresh taste to spicy dishes, best added as a garnish.

- the seeds chewed whole are good for breath freshener, but are also added ground, as part of a spice mix to many different dishes.

In particular, I use ground coriander seed in my spicy Mexican mince recipe.

As I only have coriander for a short period when its cool enough to grow here, I always look forward to it and treasure it while its fresh. I haven't found a good way to preserve the leaves so far.

My facourite use of coriander is in guacamole!

Farm update - August 2017

Its been cold this month, and very nice to have the fire going every night. Here's a photo of my boy in his cape, great for late night woofing at things. Most of July we were either preparing for the butcher to come or putting meat away. Its always a big job, but its only once a year, and its all done now. My lovely neighbour came over to help, so it was fun to have the company and work together. Taz was a champion once again as she helped us to move cattle in the yards ready to load for the market. Gus is not at that level yet and had to stay home (he cries when he gets left behind, but he just gets in the way and scatters the cattle). We have had a few sprinkles of rain here and there, but also plenty of cold nights, so the grass is mostly dead and dry, waiting for the warmer weather to revive our summer-active pasture. Gus in his cape Taz after she helped to move cattle Food and cooking It was all about beef in July and we are v...

Cooking and eating beans

When I was growing up, my family never ate many dried beans, they just weren't something that was used much in NZ cuisine. If I did eat beans, it was always from a can (and most likely baked beans). And until recently I was still using beans from a can, but it can be difficult to get organic beans, and to find cans not lined with BPA. Then I had an opportunity to buy some organic dry goods in bulk, so I bought 5kg of kidney beans, 5kg of adzuki beans and 5kg of chickpea (garbanzo beans). I know, that is a lot of beans. And then I didn't really know what to do with them! Not just what dishes to put them in, but how to prepare them, I just didn't know what method to use. So I decided it was time to learn how to use all these beans that I bought, here's what I found out. I started with an excellent ebook called The Everything Beans Book , from Katie at Kitchen Stewardship, which has lots of bean recipes, but more importantly, an explanation of h...

Guest post: Is there a place for power tools in the garden?

One of my regular readers and commenters offered to write a guest post about a horticulture course, its quite a funny read, with some serious insights into our technology obsession. If you'd like to submit a guest post, email me at eight.acres.liz {at} gmail.com. While I am always happy to share links back to your blog or website, this contributor preferred to remain anonymous. I hope you enjoy their story.... -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- Just a few days ago our daily horticulture classes were interrupted by an invitation to review some new gardening gadgets. The idea was to open half a dozen of electric hand trimmers , test them and fill in some review about their goods and bads. As nothing is more dear to a student – even a “hort “ one - to escape routine and mess around till lunchtime, we opened the boxes and got down to business. What did we...

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