How Cul-antro is that?
Hello!
These warm days are making us all giddy for summer fun – disc golf, floating on the Blackwater, open air yoga, and, of course, flowers!
Poppies are popping and bupleurum is bopping, while lupins, phlox and columbines are doing their cottage garden thing.
I’m sorry this is arriving in your inboxes a bit later than usual. This week has been extra full getting flowers ready for a wedding, preparing what I call a Celebration Bucket of blooms for an event, making bud vases to adorn the breakfast counters at Blackwater Galley, as well as farming flowers and herbs.
With these glorious warm days come clear cold nights. And in Canaan Valley, the nighttime temperatures are still dropping dangerously close to freezing. My old farm puffer jacket stays on its hook by the door for headlamp-lit forays into the fields to tuck tender flowers like sunflowers under the frost cloth. Just in case. (It’s the must-do look for Spring-Summer ’26 Mountain Mudroom Chic – oh la la!)
The Davis Farmers Market season starts today, June 5, from 4:30-7pm. I’ll be there with herbs and flowers!
Getting packed for market is a real Subaru challenge. The sky may be the limit for my aspirations, but the back of my Outback with the seats down is finite. I bring as many herbs and flowers as I can fit in there. If there is something in particular you want, feel free to let me know. I can set it aside for you. If you want more than a few plants for your own herb gardening, say 8 or more, contact me directly. We can arrange a pick-up or even a delivery. I also have some planters and potting compost to save you a drive to Oakland.
On the herb front, I've enjoyed talking with many of you about one of this year's new offerings: culantro. That's not a typo—it's a U, as in "cool."
Native to Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean, culantro is actually a thistle and a cousin to sea holly, an ornamental starlike bouquet filler. It smells and tastes much like cilantro, but without the soapy aftertaste some find off-putting nor the tendency to turn to mush in the fridge.
In the kitchen, culantro is prized in Puerto Rican, Caribbean and Southeast Asian cooking for its concentrated cilantro flavor. Because its leaves are sturdy and saw-toothed, it's best to chop or tear the firm leaves before adding them to soups, stews and other long-cooked dishes. Think cooking herb, not garnish.
To grow it, give it warmth, consistent moisture and partial shade. Mine are thriving under the greenhouse table. And DON’T let it send up a central flowering stem: pinch back any central flower stalks and harvest outer leaves regularly to keep fresh growth coming from the center.
Here's to the start of a summer filled with sunshine, adventures, colorful blooms, fragrant herbs, and the pleasures mountain living has to offer.
Let there be flowers – and herbs!
Lizz
PS – Points of Sale Summary
• Fridays – Sundays, mornings, bud vases at Blackwater Galley in Thomas (also delicious breakfasts and baked goods, check it out!)
• Fridays, starting today, June 5, 4:30-7 Davis Farmers and Artisans Market, next to Davis Riverside Park, across from the Shop’n’Save supermarket
• Sundays - pop-up, 2:30-5pm in Canaan Valley by the Canaan Valley Garage on Rt 32/Appalachian Highway
• For custom orders, quantities, convenience or just because - contact me! at hello@canaanvalleyflowerco.com