How To Plant A Salsa Garden

Schools 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 through out the year. Make sure to select an area of your yard that will get 6 – 8 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:



Pepper Choices:
Habaneros
Jalapenos
Mexibell
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
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 about same conditions as tomatoes so popping a few into your garden will be both enjoyable and stretch you culinary talents!

I can make this even easier for you, how about a plan? This plan is based on a 3’x6’ planter bed. Make sure to support your tomatoes, and stake your peppers. I’m going to throw in a few extra herbs for you since you have enough space, and fresh herbs make everything better!

If your bed is up against a wall, put the tomatoes at the back and wire up the wall as a trellis, if you can walk around the bed, put the tomatoes in the middle. This plan shows the tomato plants in the middle. The onions are green onions (scallions)

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| 3 Basil | 9 Onions | 1 Pepper | 9 Onions | 1 Pepper | 3 Basil | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 3 Parsley | 1 Tomato | 1 Tomato | 1 Tomatillo | 1 Tomato | 1 Tomato |
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| 9 Cilantro| 1 Pepper | 9 Onions | 1 Pepper | 9 Onions | 9 Cilantro |
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Make sure to fertilize and water regularly, the only other thing you will need is a great salsa recipe, here is one from my good friend, Julie O!

The Salsa I make is very simple:
jalapeno peppers about 4(you can add more if you want it spicy) chopped up
tomatoes..around 5-6 chopped up
cilantro..i always use i bunch chopped up
green onion..around 4 chopped up
1 can hunt tomato sauce
salt
avocado..cubed
mix all together..& enjoy with chips



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