Gardening : Put Some Spice in Your Back Yard : Five plants that can be grown in this climate and later be used in the kitchen.
Back yards all over Southern California are sprouting basil and rosemary, lavender and thyme. But as popular as herb gardens are, many of us are overlooking spices.
Technically, a spice is an herb, and vice versa; anything that enhances or “spices up” a dish is a spice. Over the centuries, people have tried to create finer distinctions; in England, a leaf is an herb, while a seed, stem or bark is a spice.
The English blithely ignore the contradictions of coriander (the leaf, better known here as cilantro, is an herb by their definition, while the seed is a spice), dill, celery and mustard--all leaf-and-seed double-duty edibles.
In the Middle Ages, Europeans called anything a spice if it came from far away--the Orient, the Indies. Pepper was such an expensive passion that Columbus sailed into the vast unknown just to find more (and maybe cheaper) pepper.
In early American days, housewives hoarded their jars of precious powders, dragging them out only for holidays and very special occasions. While Colonial women (and men) grew herbs for medicine and taste, growing spices was unthinkable. Couldn’t be done.
But these days it can be done in Southern California--or anywhere--in a heated greenhouse. Here are five spices that can be easily accommodated in the warmest areas; one of which actually prefers a chill now and then:
JUNIPER ( Juniperus communis ) is the hardiest spice on the list, native to Southern Europe, where it thrives in chalky soil. Plain old Juniperus communis is difficult to find in this country (almost all commercial berries are harvested in Italy and Yugoslavia), but there are several varieties that will grow here.
‘Hibernica’ is a tall, straight, narrow column; ‘Depressa’ is a flat cushion. Variegated varieties are also available (most junipers come from wholesale-only nurseries in the Northwest; local nurseries can order them from Iseli Nursery, Boring, Ore., or Monrovia Nursery, Dayton, Ore.).
Plant in the coolest part of the yard (if you live in the desert, don’t even bother). Green berries will appear in the second year, but they will take at least two more years to ripen; when they finally turn blue, pick them and dry them in the sun.
CINNAMON ( Cinnamomum zeylanicum ) trees can grow to about 35 feet. The spice is the bark of the tree, sold as rolled-up sticks, called quills, or ground. The bark is peeled from young shoots, about the size of a finger, using a lengthwise incision; as the bark dries, it curls up tightly.
Logee’s Greenhouse (141 North St., Danielson, Conn. 06239) sells cinnamon plants by mail--$8 plus shipping for a small one. Cinnamon must be kept warm and wet. Logee’s recommends using it only as a house plant, even in Southern California. The days are warm enough, but the nights are too cool.
THE BRAZILIAN PEPPER TREE ( Schinus terebinthifolius ) is a popular street tree. Its fruit, pink peppercorns, are a comparatively recent food fad. It has a heavy, often twisted trunk and thick, dark green leaves that grow in leaflets. The peppercorns turn red in the winter, fading slightly as they are processed.
They are not dried and ground like black pepper. Commercially, they are preserved in water or pickled, and are used most often in sauces for meats. Proceed with caution, however, some people are allergic to the peppercorns.
CARDAMOM ( Elettaria cardamomum ) is a tropical plant, originating in India, Ceylon and Malaysia and cultivated on India’s Malabar coast and in Guatemala, where it gets up to 150 inches of rainfall a year. You might keep a plant or two in a sunny window or greenhouse. There are three kinds of cardamom seed--large and green, small and black, tiny and dark brown. Cardamom is usually sold in pods.
I have yet to find a commercial source for the seed, so I buy the pods in ethnic grocery stores (Indian, Jewish, Armenian, Asian). Break the pods open and plant the seeds that fall out. Keep the seeds warm and moist. Be patient. Germination is very haphazard. Cardamom trees can grow to 7 feet (less in a container), and they form a thick bulb-like root. Assuming the seeds do germinate, it will be a few years before the pods can be harvested. Once they do, you will have a continuous supply of this spice.
SAFFRON ( Crocus sativa ), the world’s most expensive spice, grows fairly well in Southern California and is generally available in catalogues and nurseries. The saffron strands are very difficult to extract from the plant (tweezers are a necessity), but considering what it costs to buy if you don’t grow your own, a little kneeling and tweezing is not out of order.
