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A lifetime passion in food and all things related to food!

Tuesday, 27 September 2011

Herbs - Coriander

Coriander

Cilantro and coriander come of one and the same plant, a pretty annual herb with feathery leaves and large white umbrella flower heads. The name cilantro refers to the fresh leaf, also known as Chinese parsley. Coriander is the name for the seeds.  Not only is it a wonderful herb to cook with as the roots, stem and leaves can all be used in different ways, but it is fantastic for your body!

Cilantro/Coriander has 11 components of essential oils, 6 types of Acids, Minerals and Vitamins (inc vitamin C) also contains Cineole which posses anti-rheumatic and anti-arthritic properties effective in reducing swelling and water retention.   Some of the acids contained in coriander help to reduce cholesterol, and the oils Borneol and Linalool aid digestion and proper liver function, whilst the anti bacterial oil Citronelol acts as an antiseptic and anti-microbial in the healing of mouth ulcers. 

Coriander also contains Iron in a direct source for anaemic’s and for digestion aids in the proper secretion of enzymes and digestive juices in the stomach.

Coriander also aids in the proper secretion of hormones to reduce PMS and Period pain, the anti-oxidants in coriander also help prevent aging of the eye and soothes against eye stress.


How to grow coriander
Coriander needs a frost free period to grow but it doesn't like extreme heat. So in milder climates you grow coriander during summer, in tropical climates you grow it during the cooler dry season.
To grow coriander you need reasonable soil and you need to keep the plants well watered.
Growing cilantro/coriander from seed
You can plant coriander in rows for easy harvesting or you can spread the seed over a wider area and rake it in. It depends how much seed you have available.
You want about 5 cm between plants if you grow coriander for the leaf. They need more space if you grow them for seed, but you can always eat the extre plants and just leave a few to go to seed.
coriander seeds take about two to three weeks to germinate. If they come up too thickly, just pull up and eat the extras...
Harvesting cilantro/coriander
After you have eaten all your thinnings, harvest individual coriander leaves of the base of the remaining plants. Just make sure the plant is big enough to cope and leave some leaves on it so it can continue to grow.
Sooner or later your coriander plants will flower. Once they start developing that flower stalk they stop making more leaves. Therefore it is a good idea to re-sow coriander every few weeks during the growing season. That way you never run out.
Some people also chop out the flower stalk as soon as it shows and manage to keep the plants going a bit longer. Or they harvest the whole coriander plant once it shows signs of wanting to flower.
Apart from that coriander has no special soil requirements. Rich, dark soil always produces the biggest, healthiest plants, but any reasonable soil with average nutrient levels should be fine. If you want to feed your plants extra, some diluted liquid fertilizer like fish emulsion never goes astray.



1 comment:


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