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Say Fennel and most people look at you funny. Ask if it is a vegetable or an herb and most people cannot answer.
I started growing fennel for a lot of reasons. I like Italian and Mediterranean cooking and fennel is part of many recipes. I like licorice and fennel has an anise flavor. I like things that are easy to grow and fennel fits the bill and it will grow right up and through the first frost.
Fennel can be started from seed. It can be put in your herb garden or vegetable garden because it is both an herb and a vegetable. However, wherever you put it, put it in the back because it grows to a height of 3 to 4 feet tall. Basically it is classified as an herb and it closely related to parsley so I always grow some in my Mediterranean herb garden.
I plant it directly from seed in 4 feet by 4 foot section. There it grows with its stalk looking like celery with a similar bulbous base except for its fern-like leaves on top. It can be eaten raw, put in salads, cooked or boiled. I like to grill it on the grill with bastings of olive oil. It Italy is it often referred to as Florence fennel or Finuccio.
When I plant it I do so as soon as the ground can be worked and sow the seeds directly into the ground covering them with about ¼ inch of soil. Once the seedling start to sprout I thin the plants to about 10 to 12 inches apart and I make sure my rows are at least 18 inches apart. Since they are put in a 4 foot by 4 foot section of my Mediterranean herb garden I just make my rows 24 inches apart and have only two rows of them that are 4 foot long. That gives us plenty for our small family.
I then can start a planting again in mid summer that I am able to harvest in the fall and since fennel is hardy I do not bother to pull up the fennel in advance of the first frost.
Fennel likes full sun and a well drained soil. During dry periods I give them water once or twice a week. I can harvest the leaves as I need them.
Once the flower heads are formed and died I can harvest the seeds by shaking them out and drying them in a cool dry location.
When the bulbs have reached the size of a tennis ball or larger I can harvest them for cooking.
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Author Bio Box: Arlene Wright Correll
 For more gardening or cooking information click http://www.learn-america.com/
To see Arlene’s Gardens and to read her gardening diaries or click on Arlene’s Books where you can download or buy her gardening & cook books. Arlene says, “All my royalties from the sale of my books go to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and I thank you for visiting my site.”
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