by Jared Jeannotte

Created on: January 08, 2009   Last Updated: June 17, 2009

There is nothing like the tangy taste of a fresh home grown salsa to spice up any dish. Planning out a salsa garden is a fun and colorful activity for any culinary yard artist. Vegetables can brighten any landscape and produce delicious results. The following suggestions can give you a fall garden that will yield a wonderful salsa and a visual masterpiece.

Most of todays salsa's have a tomato base, so that will be the starting point for your new salsa garden. Since tomato plants are one of the tallest of the ingredients in a salsa garden, you want to place them at the rear of your new garden. Tomato plants should be spaced 1 to 2 feet apart and can reach a height of 3 to 4 feet. To make your garden decorative, start with a half moon shape with the front of the crescent facing forward. If you want more than one row of plants, plant the second row staggered to the first giving it a nice full look.

Depending on your tastes, corn can be added to your garden and should be planted behind the tomatoes. Corn should be placed anywhere from 4-6 inches apart and can get to be 6 to 7 feet high. When planting corn, add several seeds into the hole. When the shoots are 4 to 6 inches high, weed out the smaller stalks.

The next vegetables to place in your garden will be your bell peppers. Space your peppers approximately 12 to 18 inches apart for best growth. Bell peppers grow 8-10 inches high. Choose yellow, red and green peppers for a slight difference in taste and a beautiful coloring for your salsa.

Though not commonly used, green onion adds a wonderful taste to any homemade salsa. When planted it has a nice rounded green stalk that can get 6-8 inches high. One of the most wonderful thing about using green onion in any garden is the wonderful smell that emanates from the plants. These can be spread throughout your salsa garden in small clumps to give character to any area.

The last but not least addition to your garden should be the pepper that gives your salsa the bite or spiciness that you like. Jalapenos, banana peppers and habeneros are just a couple of the various peppers available for a salsa garden. Every hot pepper comes with a heat index with the hottest being rated at 577,000 and the lowest, such as a sweet pepper would be 0. Combine different flavors for a unique taste and striking colors.

Once your garden is planted, step back and imagine a few months down the road. The tomatoes will be orange and red, your peppers adding a hint of yellow and orange. The corn is beggining to turn a husky brown and the spices add to a masterpiece of unique colors and smells. While spring may be the best time for flowers, vegetables are the flowers of fall.

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