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There’s nothing like the freshness and sparkle that a handful of home grown herbs can add to a meal. And while most people resign themselves to a fall and winter of stews and roasts, abandoning hope of all things fresh until spring, they don’t realize that your winter table can, in fact, be garnished with a little hint of Summer! And a few beloved annual herbs planted late in the season can make all the difference.

We are in the home stretch for Summer vegetables like Tomatoes! If you’ve played your cards right, by now your tomatoes are an architectural feature in your garden. They have put on voluminous growth since a late Spring planting, they have flowered, been pollinated, and heavy fruits are beginning to ripen on the vine. You have supported them, pruned them, prayed over them, and it all looks like it just might pay off! So your work is done, right? …Well, not exactly. The quality of your harvest will very much depend on how you care for your tomatoes during this final important stretch of summer!

While many of us associate cilantro with tomatoes, tomatilllos and hot chili peppers, this beloved herb does not like the heat like those other plants do. That means it is easier to grow cilantro in the spring and the fall than it is in the summer (when peppers and tomatoes are ripe). That being said, growing the beautiful cilantro you want from your garden is not out of reach!

One thing to know about peppers is that they truly love the heat! While we don’t have the hottest climate in the Pacific Northwest, we can still grow beautiful peppers here. It simply takes more care to get a productive pepper crop in this climate than a warmer southern climate.

When we start our first lettuce plantings at the end of February and beginning of March, I often get the question “Isn’t it too early to be planting lettuce?” Lettuces are cold sensitive and in our climate, and late winter is marked with frosty nights. Fortunately, if you follow a few simple practices, you can successfully grow early season lettuce, and start eating fresh salads from your garden come early spring.

Growing vegetables from seeds, or “direct seeding,” in your garden is one of the best things about growing food at home! It can be a challenge to find varieties that are easy to grow, well adapted for your garden, and delicious. So save yourself the trouble and get your hands on some tried and true varieties that we love!