It sounds weird, but this was the most “fun” plant to grow! I never imagined I could grow and then eat cilantro in my garden. It was far more fragrant and tastier than anything I’ve ever bought. The best surprises came from watching and learning about the plant over it’s life cycle!

Lessons learned:
– As soon as you start getting leaves, start picking the cilantro to encourage more growth. I clipped the stems but left a couple of leaves on each to continue growing. The plant can easily get to several feet tall (like in the photo) once you start clipping…crazy!!
– Use up the bigger leaves before it gets too warm. Cilantro likes cooler weather, by the time it hits 80’s farenheit, it starts flowering and seeding
– Once it flowers, just be patient. Eventually you get seeds (coriander). Let them dry on the plant. After it’s all dried out, pull the plant, separate out the seeds and now you’ve got delicious fresh coriander to use in your cooking!

Delicious home-grown strawberries blow away the grocery store competition. Luckily, we were able to harvest and enjoy a few despite not knowing what I was doing with this more delicate plant. Hopefully, I’ll have a more robust crop the next time.

Lessons learned:
– Mint and strawberries love growing together!
– Strawberries are in high demand. If you don’t pick ’em, the ants and birds most definitely will
– Definitely like a shadier and cooler environment than I was providing for them.
– I’ve read but haven’t tried yet: the first year of a plant, pick the flowers and don’t allow it to fruit. This allows the plant to build healthier roots and a better crop the next year.

I love bell peppers! Unfortunately, so do the critters so I no longer have my plants. But we got to enjoy many fresh, home-grown red and green bell peppers over the last few years. Yum!!!

Lessons learned:
– Unlike hot peppers, these guys don’t do well in too much sun. I had to cover the area with a trellis
– Picking the fruit regularly, allows the plant and the fruit to grow bigger. Otherwise the fruit stays small
– Allow the green peppers to stay on the plant longer and you get red peppers!