I have only relatively recently come to love fennel. I guess as a kid it was never part of my diet, indeed, it was never seen in the green grocers. But gradually over time and I guess because of welcome Italian influence to Australia, fennel has come into my life and into my vegetable garden. It is now a regular plant in the patch.
I've been harvesting a few lately, mostly as quite young bulbs - welcome additions to winter meals.I find them very easy to grow. I grow them from seed planted directly into the patch and find that they come out of the ground pretty easily.
Early on in their growth, I do find that they need a little support by gently mounding a little soil up so that the thicker bit if the stem - the bit that will eventually be your bulb - sits just on top of the soil with any lower stalk covered up.
I find them very hardy too tolerating both hot and dry summers and cold winters but if you can spare water in summer, the more water, the thicker and juicier the bulbs.
I harvest bulbs both at a slim 'baby' stage and at a fat 'mature' stage.When I harvest them, I cut them off their root at soil level.
After a little while, new baby fennel plants start developing on the outer edge of the cut root.
Here is one I cut a few weeks ago now - 5 new little fennel are sprouting - I will remove some so there is room for the others to grow.
I love fennel with fish and pork, bacon and potato, with fennel seeds and tomatoes and in salads with lemon juice and olive oil.
I am contributing this to Liz's Saturday Spotlight. Take a look at her blog to see what produce others are spotlighting.
Thanks for the tip on cutting off the bulb and letting it regrow. So I've now learnt from others that you can do that with fennel, leek and celery. A great head-start on a new crop! Will definitely try that with mine when this crop are large enough to harvest.
ReplyDeleteI discovered that it resprouts accidentally when I was lazy one day and just cut the bulb off instead of doing what I had done in the past and pull the whole root up. It was a pleasant discovery!
DeleteMmmm fennel....
ReplyDeleteNever tried to grow it, but there's always next year!
There is always something new to try. Fun isn't it!
DeleteYour fennel looks so lovely and they have such interesting leaves.
ReplyDeleteI tried transplanting fennel but they died, but I will try direct seeding in the fall.
Direct seeding is the way to go. Good luck!
DeleteOh I adore fennel! Roast it with a chicken and you will think you've died and gone to Heaven. Sooo yummy!
ReplyDeleteKK