Grow your own fresh salsa: plants for fresh salsa all season
Chopped tomato, onion, jalapeno, and cilantro. The reason most people plant tomatoes.
For a family of 4 making fresh salsa (pico de gallo) weekly in season (12 times a year), grow:
| Crop | Amount | Plants | Bed sq ft | Yield assumption | Seeds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slicing tomato | 14 lb | 2 (2 to 3) | 8 | About 8 lb per plant (UMaine). Caged or staked at 2 ft spacing. | Shop Seeds Now |
| Jalapeno pepper | 10 oz | 1 | 2.5 | About 1.25 lb (roughly 40 peppers) per plant. | Shop Seeds Now |
| Onion | 4.6 lb | 14 (10 to 19) | 2 | 10 lb per 10 ft of row at 4 inch spacing, so about one 1/3 lb bulb per plant. | Shop Seeds Now |
| Cilantro | 5 oz | 2 (1 to 3) | 0.5 | About 0.2 lb of leaves per plant before it bolts. Sow every 3 weeks. | Shop Seeds Now |
| Garlic | 2 oz | 1 | 0.5 | 4 lb per 10 ft of row, about one bulb (0.15 lb) per clove planted. Plant in fall. | Shop Seeds Now |
| Total | 13.5 | ||||
Garden ingredients per recipe (about 3 cups)
- 4 medium tomatoes (1.5 lb) slicing tomato
- 1 medium onion onion
- 2 jalapenos jalapeno pepper
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 clove garlic
From the pantry
- 1 lime
- to taste salt
Dice everything, add lime juice and salt, rest 15 minutes.
Change household size or combine dishes in the Plate to Plot tool
Sources and assumptions
Amounts include 15 percent extra for culls, pests, and kitchen trim. Plant counts use the typical yield; the range uses the high and low yields. Bed space assumes intensive beds at recommended spacing. Yields vary with variety, weather, and soil.
- Kansas State University Research and Extension, MF315 Vegetable Garden Planting Guide (average crop per 10 feet of row)
- University of Maine Cooperative Extension, Planting Chart for the Home Vegetable Garden
- Clemson HGIC, How Much to Grow: Planning for Year-Round Garden Productivity
- ThriveThyme estimate from typical harvests (no single extension table lists this crop per plant)
- National Center for Home Food Preservation (USDA tested canning and pickling recipes)
Guides and tools
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