Fennel appears in various forms within the food and medicinal range, for example as fennel tea, in the form of fennel seeds or as fresh vegetables. The great tuber can be easily cultivated in warm and sunny locations in your own garden. Depending on the variety and intended use, you can harvest fennel in a number of ways.

The cultivation time of fennel

When sown directly outdoors, fennel plants need about 12 weeks to reach a harvestable size. However, this is mainly true if you want to use up the tubers of this tasty vegetable. If, on the other hand, you are mainly after the fennel seeds, you have to wait for the flowers to ripen in midsummer.

Prevent the fennel bulbs from becoming woody

When fennel bulbs are about the size of a human fist, they can be harvested for fresh consumption or freezing. If you stay longer in the vegetable patch, you can also get bigger and be harvested fresh later. However, you should then definitely protect the plants from excessive heat and drying out of the subsoil to prevent the tubers from lignifying.

Harvesting the seeds of sweet fennel

In order to get the coveted fennel seeds, you have to wait for the flowering of the fennel herb. This becomes visible in golden yellow umbels in midsummer and is particularly pronounced in the so-called spice fennel. Harvest the aromatic seeds by cutting off the herb right at the bulbs.

Easily separate the fennel seeds from the cabbage

Harvesting the fennel seeds is particularly uncomplicated if you harvest them from the plants with the withered herb. To do this, wait for the right time of ripening and tie bouquets to dry. If these are hung upside down above a smooth and clean surface, falling fennel seeds can be easily collected.

Fresh fennel as a vegetable

Fresh fennel with its aromatic-tasting tubers can be eaten as a fresh vegetable from August until the onset of winter. It is digestible raw or cooked for humans and dogs.

tips and tricks

If you have overlooked the right time to harvest, you do not have to pull out woody fennel bulbs directly and throw them away. For example, cut off the old leaves to harvest the seeds and wait for the new leaves to sprout. These can then be processed into salads or mixed vegetables.

Category:

Vegetable garden