Salsa might be my favorite condiment. Nowadays, there are so many different types of salsas. Salsa is everywhere! I have used it on breakfast foods, lunch, and dinner. It’s incredibly universal. And I will argue that fresh salsa is the best. Better yet, the ingredients used to make fresh salsa can be grown in your own backyard.
If, like me, you love fresh salsa, consider setting aside a spot in your yard that gets 6 or more hours of direct sun every day. This is going to be your salsa garden.
What vegetables you plant in your salsa garden depends mostly on what type of salsa you enjoy most. Do you go for the more traditional Mexican salsa with some heat? Or do you prefer the more subdued tang of Caribbean salsa? Check the ingredients for your favorite salsa recipe to get an idea for the type of plants you will need to grow.
What to Grow
Tomatoes, of course, but not just any tomato will render the best base for your salsa. Consider planting paste tomatoes. Paste tomatoes are typically meatier and lower in moisture than slicing tomatoes, producing thicker salsa with less draining or cooking required. Some traditional paste tomatoes are ‘San Marzano’, ‘Roma’, and ‘Amish Paste’.
What peppers you grow depend on the level of heat you prefer in your salsa. I prefer the milder Anaheim pepper because the much spicier habanero would send me to the refrigerator, tears and all, to gulp down multiple glasses of milk. Gloves are strongly recommended when handling hot peppers such as jalapeños, serranos, cayennes, or habaneros.
Tomatillos are a common ingredient for many traditional salsas, yet they are often overlooked in homemade salsa gardens and recipes in Illinois. Tomatillos were cultivated by the ancient Aztecs and have remained a common component in Mexican cuisine.
Onions, chives, garlic, cilantro, basil, oregano, cucumbers, and more all have a place in the salsa garden. More information about growing all of these plants can be found at Illinois Extension websites or by contacting your local Extension office.
Maintenance Through the Season
Watering will be crucial to the success of your salsa garden. I typically recommend using some form of drip irrigation such as a soaker hose or drip tape in the vegetable garden. Drip irrigation loses less water to evaporation, minimizes the spread of disease, and takes a lot of the guesswork out of watering. During the hottest days of summer, you may have to water more often. If you received a good rain event (usually about an inch per week), then keep the spigot turned off.
If your only option is to irrigate with an overhead sprinkler, make sure to only water early in the morning, so the vegetation has time to dry during the day.
Your salsa garden will potentially yield big fruits (tomatoes and peppers) and hopefully, lots of them. That means you will need to add some nutrition to the soil to help support your yielding plants. Compost mixed in and spread on top of your planting bed is a great source of a balanced, gentle fertilizer, but depending on your soil and crop needs, additional fertilizer may be beneficial. Contact your local Extension office to get recommended types of fertilizer, both organic and conventional.
Healthy vegetables with proper care can often out-compete any weeds or insect pests, but problems do happen, even in the best garden. Hand weeding or using a weed cultivator like a collinear hoe are great mechanical ways of controlling weeds. Mulches like straw are effective at suppressing weeds and insulating the soil.
The best advice for getting started on any garden, especially for beginners, is to start small and keep it simple. If you install twenty plants the first year and struggle the whole time, you likely won’t try it again next year. Starting with a few plants and incorporating those home-grown ingredients with those you purchase from the grocery store is the best motivation to keep on growing. Over time, you will learn the ins and outs of growing your own food and will soon have a full-fledged salsa garden.
Good Growing Tip of the Week: Many paste tomato varieties are prone to blossom end rot (BER). Some modern hybrid paste tomatoes have improved tolerance to BER, but consistent soil moisture remains the most important way to prevent the disorder.
Learn more about:
Growing tomatoes | Growing peppers | Growing garlic | Growing onions
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MEET THE AUTHOR
Chris Enroth is a horticulture educator with University of Illinois Extension, serving Henderson, McDonough, Knox, and Warren counties since 2012. Chris provides horticulture programming with an emphasis on the home gardener, landscape maintenance personnel, and commercial landscapers. Additional responsibilities include coordinating local county Master Gardener and Master Naturalist volunteers - providing their training, continuing education, advanced training, seasonal events, and organizing community outreach programs for horticulture and conservation assistance/education. In his spare time, Chris enjoys the outdoors, lounging in the garden among the flowers (weeds to most).