Pale swollen heads topped with feathery foliage, then small yellow flowers that ripen into aniseed-scented grains: fennel (Foeniculum dulce) is a summer vegetable valued as much for its digestive and antioxidant properties as for its flavour. Give it light, rich, relatively cool soil in full sun, and heads follow about three months after sowing.
| Name | Foeniculum dulce |
|---|---|
| Family | Apiaceae (parsley family) |
| Type | biennial |
| Height | 16 to 24 inches (40 to 60 cm) |
| Exposure | full sun |
| Soil | ordinary to rich |
| Harvest | Midsummer to early winter, 3 months after sowing |
‘Orion F1’ is one named cultivar to look for, grown for the tightly overlapping swollen leaf bases that form the edible ‘bulb’, which blanch pale when soil is ridged up and can be pulled roughly three months after sowing.
It is a good idea to sow in a sheltered place starting from the month of Early spring and mid-spring and up till the month of midsummer.
Fennel loves rather light, rich and relatively cool soil.
It helps to enrich the soil with manure-based fertilizer in order to enhance growth.
Fennel follows a straightforward sequence, each stage with its own timing and its own measurement. Use the table to see at a glance what the plants need next.
| Stage | When | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Sowing in a nursery | Early spring and mid-spring | Sow in a sheltered place, in light, rich, relatively cool soil |
| Direct sowing in the plot | From late spring, and up till midsummer | Furrows 2 inches (5 cm) deep, every 8 to 10 inches (20 to 25 cm), seeds covered with ½ inch (1 cm) of soil |
| Thinning | Once the first leaves appear | Thin down to about 8 inches (20 cm) between plants |
| Transplanting | From late spring, after the last frost spells | Move nursery-raised seedlings to the vegetable patch |
| Ridging to blanch | As the plants grow | Ridge up soil, stopping at 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) |
| Harvest and storage | Midsummer to early winter, until the first frosts | Store in a cellar in crates filled with sand, or freeze |
Followed in order, the sequence gives usable heads about three months after sowing.
There are actually two parts of the plant that can be collected. Most common is to eat the head of fennel as a vegetable.
You can collect your fennel whenever you need it, depending on how large the heads have become.
Once the first frosts have hit, pull all your fennel out and keep it in a cool, ventilated and rather dark place.
The best way to keep your fennel is to store them in a cellar in crates filled with sand. If you haven’t any cellar, freeze them in a freezer.
But fennel seeds are also delicious and can be used in cooking just like cumin or aniseed.
An excellent vegetable known for its nutritious value as well as its digestive and antioxidant properties, fennel is an admirable addition to most of the summer dishes you can prepare, and its aniseed-like flavor will enchant you.
So the health benefits of fennel are well acknowledged, and fennel is delicious when integrated into culinary recipes with its light taste of aniseed.
Although the Mediterranean diet is where it is most present, fennel is grown more or less everywhere in mild climate regions.
Also, remember not to confuse fennel with dill because even though the two plants look alike and that dill is sometimes called the “bastard fennel”, they are quite different. Likewise, although the taste is very similar to that of aniseed, the leaves which are very different will help you tell them apart.
Collect all the small grains of that appear at the end of the small yellow flowers and add them to your ‘Fleur de sel’ fine table salt.
They’re delicious to flavor your meals, especially recipes with fish.
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