Mayo Cilantro is a tender, mild-flavored herb variety of Coriandrum sativum collected from a Mayo family farming community in Navajoa, Mexico, along the Mayo River in 1995. Unlike typical cilantro with its sharp, peppery bite, this cultivar offers a delicate, light floral character and exceptionally tender leaves that work in any dish where you'd use onions. It's a cold-hardy volunteer that reseeds itself generously, thriving through snow and late frosts while maintaining vigor through the growing season.
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Moderate
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Moderate
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Collected from Mayo farmers in Mexico's Navajoa region, this cilantro grows vigorously and handles unexpected cold snaps that would kill standard varieties. The leaves are remarkably tender and carry a gentle, floral flavor rather than the aggressive taste most cilantro brings to the plate. It self-seeds so readily that once you've grown it, volunteers appear season after season with each successive planting looking stronger than the last.
Mayo Cilantro functions as a versatile culinary herb used much like onions across a range of dishes. Its tender leaves work fresh in salsas, salads, and as a garnish, but its real distinction lies in cooking applications where you'd typically reach for green onions or mild alliums. The light floral flavor integrates into soups, stews, and traditional Mexican dishes without the sharp bite of standard cilantro varieties.
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Transplant Mayo Cilantro after the last frost date, though the variety's cold hardiness means it tolerates unexpected late frosts. Space plants 6 to 12 inches apart in prepared beds.
Direct sow seeds in spring as soon as soil can be worked, or in late summer for fall and winter harvest. The variety self-seeds readily, producing volunteers that often look more vigorous than intentionally planted crops.
Begin harvesting Mayo Cilantro when plants are established and have developed tender leaves, typically 3 to 4 weeks after transplanting or direct sowing. Pinch or cut leaves from the top of plants to encourage bushier growth and delay bolting. The variety reaches peak tenderness in late March through early April in its native growing region, though season timing varies with your climate. Continue harvesting outer leaves throughout the season; the plant responds to regular cutting by producing more tender growth. Allow some plants to flower and set seed if you want natural reseeding for the following season.
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“In 1995, Native Seeds/SEARCH collectors gathered this cilantro from a Mayo family farming along Mexico's Mayo River in Navajoa, learning that the family harvested it in late March and early April, using the tender leaves like onions in nearly everything they cooked. The variety proved so resilient that it became part of the Native Seeds/SEARCH Seed-Bank Collection, where its cold hardiness and prolific self-seeding earned it a reputation as a plant that improves with each generation grown. Spring 2023 plantings demonstrated its vigor even in challenging conditions, persisting through a March snow and late April frost, with volunteer plants emerging that November looking even more vigorous than the original transplants.”