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Swingle Seasonal Tips – Spring

Fresh Guacamole Recipe from Your Garden

Date: 5/9/11 | Season: Spring

Do you enjoy eating fresh and delicious guacamole? It is a wonderful compliment for many meals and it also works very well as an appetizer.

Growing your own ingredients for a guacamole is simple, fun and pretty easy to do.

What you will need for growing:

  • Tomato plant
  • Cilantro plant
  • Garlic bulb


The avocado tree is a tropical plant and Colorado is not a tropical climate. Trees planted from a seed can take five to thirteen years to bear fruit. Watching an avocado seed sprout can be a fun exercise for kids to watch and learn from, but growing avocados in the Colorado climate is nearly impossible. Save yourself a lot of time and effort and get fresh avocados from your local farmers market or favorite grocery store.

Tomato Plant Care
Growing your own fresh tomatoes is simple, fun and can provide you with many fresh delicious tomatoes to eat! There are so many varieties to choose from. Cherry tomatoes are great for patios or small spaces like a balcony in your apartment or condo. Larger varieties like heirlooms take more room to grow and if they get big enough you may need to help them remain standing up and growing tall.

Here are basic instructions for growing tomatoes on your patio in a container:

  • Select a sturdy plant – The stem should be about as thick as a pencil. The plant should be about as wide as it is high and have dark green, thick foliage. Good varieties for growing in Colorado are Big Beef, Early Girl or Sweet 100.
  • Use good potting soil and not dirt from your yard. Place containers where they will receive a minimum of six to eight hours of sunlight daily. Avoid areas with intense heat reflected off of walls. Plant them as soon as danger of frost has passed. In Colorado, it is usually safe after Mother’s Day weekend every year.
  • Water well and keep soil evenly moist but not saturated. Fertilize with plant food designed for vegetables. Avoid fertilizing plants on hot days when the temperature is 85° F or above.
  • Pluck tomatoes off when they are ready to go and enjoy!


Cilantro Plant Care
Cilantro is a wonderful fresh herb that you can use for many culinary dishes: Pico de gallo, guacamole, mango salsas and much more. Growing a small cilantro plant is easy and rewarding. Growing in a container ensures your plant will remain a manageable size and you can move it around to find the best spot for it in your home.

  • Cilantro grows best in a deep pot 12”  deep or more. Purchase a plant at your local garden center and repot into a large pot using a good gardening soil, preferably for vegetables or herbs.
  • It should grow successfully in a southern facing window. Water lightly and often.
  • Pinch back before flowers start to appear.
  • This herb is best when fresh (It doesn’t freeze well.), so take your cuttings when you are ready to use them. Rinse them off and enjoy!

 

Garlic Plant Care
For best results in Colorado, grow garlic outside in your garden. It is recommended to plant this in the fall, four to six weeks before the first frost date.

  • Work in fertilizer before planting.
  • Separate bulbs into cloves and use the largest cloves for planting. Push the cloves into the soil with the root end down, about one to two inches into the soil about six inches apart. Add mulch during winter months.
  • You will see top growth in Spring. Garlic is usually ready to harvest in mid-summer. Wait for the foliage to die off and turn brown. Use a pitchfork and bring up the entire bulb, being careful not to break it.
  • Dry out the garlic in a dry, warm, dark, airy place for a few weeks. Cut the stalks about an inch above the bulb and store in open mesh bags at room temperature.

You can save a few of your largest bulbs for next year's planting. Garlic can be added to just about any dish for wonderful flavor!


Guacamole Recipe

Ingredients

  • 3 ripe avocados – peeled and seeded
  • 1 tomato – diced
  • 1 small bunch of cilantro – minced
  • ½ lime – squeezed
  • 1-2 cloves of garlic – minced
  • Pinch of sea salt to taste or cayenne pepper (optional)


Mash the avocado with a fork and add all the ingredients together and mix. Serve on a bed of cabbage triangles and decorate your platter with cherry tomatoes and fresh cilantro. You can also serve this with tortilla chips, as an addition to tacos or fajitas, or with fresh vegetables.

Serve and enjoy!