Fennel is a tall plant with feathery foilage and yellow flowers that turn into seeds. It is thick perennial root stock and there are several varieties. The common fennel is stouter and has a taller tubular. The leaves of the common fennel are less divided than the other fennel plants. The bulbs of the fennel are white and tender and are used in salads, soups with fish and meat and braised as a vegetable. They have an aniseed flavour. Other types of fennel are wild and sweet . These are cultivated for their seeds and leaves and are used to make teas, added to soups and stews, bread and puddings. They have a very strong aniseed flavour. Fennel is ...  Read the complete review

INTRODUCTION   I first had fennel only about three years ago, and was amazed that there was a vegetable / herb that could taste so sweet. It tastes of liquorice / aniseed, and can be either be grown as Florence fennel (which has an edible swollen bulb at the base) or herb / sweet fennel which doesn't have the swollen bulb and instead the feathery fronds are chopped and used a herb.   Here's how I grow mine, and also other little pearls of knowledge about fennel.   GROWING FENNEL   April is a good time to plant from seed as it is a Mediterranean crop so prefers our summer.  It can be nurtured over winter, but requires quite a bit of ...  Read the complete review

I'm quite into eating bits and bobs of plants and fungi and so on taken from the wild, but one of the rules I established early on was never to consume wild umbelifers - a group of plant that includes edible and well-known plants such as celery, parsley, lovage and fennel and the like - but also a number of really deadly poisonous look-a-likes (hemlock; giant hog weed; and a whole host of kill-you-horribly water dropworts). So, I never eat wild umbelifers - with the exception of fennel, which is (touch wood) pretty much unmistakeable. In fact in a quasi-survival situation in the States I even tried some wild fennel growing in a marsh - which probably wasn't ...  Read the complete review

Fennel is easy to grow from seed sown straight into the earth, doing best in a sunny spot. Once it is established it will self seed and pop up by itself year after year. The plants have attractive frondy leaves and large white or yellow flower heads, a bit like cow parsley. They reach about three foot. This herb is worth growing purely for its appearance and rich aniseedy fragance but, if you are interested in using it, has a whole range of medicinal and some culinary uses. Traditionally Fennel has been used to settle the stomach and ease heartburn and indigestion. It is also reputed to help asthma and Culpepper suggests it might be of use to ...  Read the complete review

A very common plant in the Mediterranean and is easy to recognise by its fragrant feathery leaves and one type has a bulbous stem which provides a delicious vegetables. Like many herbs and spices fennel was once used medically and fennel boiled in water for 15mins is used to treat inflamed or tired eyes. It used to be hung over doors on Midsummer’s Eve to ward off spirits. The seeds once chewed prevent a feeling of hunger and was used in the olden days as a method of dieting. Fennel needs to be sown in the spring and should be kept away from Dill other wise it will cross-fertilize. The soil needs to be well drained and in a sunny spot. The leaves ...  Read the complete review