Dill Weed. I love this plant, and it is so easy to grow… as easy as a weed!
If you plant Dill in a cultivated area such as an annually tilled vegetable garden, the seeds will come up for you year after year. Both the seeds and the finely divided feathery textured leaves are edible. The flowers appear on broad umbels and turn to seeds that can be harvested for flavoring recipes ranging from pickles to potato salad. Little sprigs of the fresh leaves are perfect for fish and as garnishes. They are a marvelously ornamental plant,too.
Anethum graveolens attracts bees, butterflies, lacewings, hoverflies, tachinid flies and other beneficial insects. As a member of the Umbelliferae family it is especially favored by Swallowtail and other desired butterflies. It is liked by tomato hornworms, as well, so not a good pairing with tomato plants.
The Look
Three (or more) foot tall stalks, light green, smooth,and hollow, with soft feathery foliage, bluegreen at first, but becoming a bright green. Chartreuse umbels of flowers ripen to a brown seedhead. Very graceful plant, with a pleasant aromatic scent.
Growing Instructions
Dill is an annual and completes its growth cycle in one season, it is very hardy, however and the seeds will survive very cold winters to sprout in your late spring garden. You may harvest the seed for the next year’s crop and to keep as a dried herb for your kitchen.
- Days To Germination: 14 -21
- Planting Depth: 1/16 to 1/8 inch
- Full sun
- Regular moisture
Sow seed directly in prepared garden soil. Barely cover and firm into soil. The freshly germinated plants have fine bluegreen leaves. Not recommended for indoor growing due to the deep taproot which resents transplanting.
Said to cross pollinate with fennel. (Not a desirable thing).
Harvesting Dill
Snip leaves any time, rinse and pat dry, snip to use fresh, or allow to air dry for longer use. Whole plant may be hung upside down, or seedheads removed when ripe. Both leaves and seeds are good dried and preserved in air tight container.
Used in cabbage and potato dishes, in Swedish and German cookery, and to flavor pickles.
Dill seed is more intense in flavor than dill weed leaves.
My favorite use is as a fresh pickle: with thinly sliced cucumbers, green onions, soaked in a diluted vinegar dressing with just salt and cracked black pepper to taste.
Plant Lore
Used to induce sleep, reduce colic.
A good source of Thiamine, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Manganese.[1]
A symbol of good luck to first century Romans.
Aneth comes from the Greek word “Anethon†meaning fennel. Fennel and Dill were both considered symbols of vitality and wealth in ancient Rome [2]; graveolens meaning strong-smelling in Latin.
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