Grow Salsa Ingredients in Your Back Yard

So you love salsa and would like to have your own fresh ingredients growing in your backyard! Go for it and don't be hard on yourself if your first attempt is less than bountiful. Your soil composition may need a little tweaking but you'll learn this as you go. Each growing season you'll produce a better and better crop and your family will love the fresh salads and salsa so much that the kids might even lend a hand with the work ... nahhh!

Begin with starter plants purchased from a local nursery or store. I have attempted starting from seeds a few times; though I end up with several healthy plants it seems I put a lot of time and effort into nursing the seedlings for a small crop of healthy, plantable individuals. If you have the time and window space seed planting may work well for you. Seeds need to be started in April, generally, while seedlings may be purchased and planted in mid-May (Missouri).

Prepare your garden area by turning over the earth to aerate and loosen the soil. I prefer to offset the cucumber plants because their vines can spread several feet when they are thriving, so I make a row or two just for the cucumbers. In a separate row, plant the tomatoes about a foot apart, with about six inches between the other types of plants. Tomatoes will require stakes to support the stalks as they mature but you won't need the stakes during the first few weeks. Water the garden liberally so the roots will reach deeper; scant watering leaves the moist soil near the top and the roots will get used to reaching shallowly to the sides instead of rooting deeper. It works best to create a couple of paths for water to follow if your garden is on a slight incline. Soaker hoses work well, too.

Pay close attention to the plants as they grow; be sure to water based on rainfall (or lack of) and weed the area often. Nothing is more disappointing in a new gardener's season than losing your crop to weeds. Check the colors of the leaves regularly and keep an eye out for the large green tomato worms. You will need to pick them off soon as you see them or they'll feast on your leaves and kill the plants. Tomatoes like slightly acidic soil so you may need to add a small shot of vinegar to the water on occasion (or buy a plant food made for outdoor use). I've found the cucumber, onion, and both types of peppers are hardy plants that seem happy as long as they have sunshine and water.

Your first tomato might taste a bit flat but don't worry as that is fairly normal for the first pick of a crop. Harvest your vegetables as needed and remember you can preserve them a bit longer by adding a bit of vinegar, sugar, and oil to your salsa recipe.

Warning: Jalapeno peppers still on the vine (late November) in SW Missouri are not just 'cute, red, sweet peppers'!
I took a brisk walk in the cool afternoon air, picking up things Onyx chews to smithereens, putting the torches in the shed ... generally getting the yard a little more ready for winter ... when a stunningly beautiful pepper caught my eye. I gingerly nipped off a tiny, eensy, weensy piece and declared it to be very sweet ... almost like a red bell pepper that's gone just a bit too long on the vine! In my excitement with the walk, the joy of finding a pepper, and watching the dogs chase one another around I boldly ate this pepper up to the half-way point. The volcanic heat didn't set in at first -- no, it was still fooling me with its red beauty. Oh! When the heat hit I had to go inside, drink milk, wipe my watering eyes, blow my nose (it turned on like a faucet!) .... Still nuclear after 5 minutes so I ate a cup of yogurt. 10 minutes later -- Yes, TEN MINUTES later -- my eyes stopped watering and I was able to stop cursing that pepper. Beware all you unsuspecting garden nibblers!