Quarreled Fennel

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

The first time I saw fennel, I mistook it for dill. But his smell was not like the smell of dill. Chewed leaves, not dill at all. What kind of attack? I had to rummage through the gardening literature. It turned out that fennel and dill are close relatives with different abilities. Everything is like people

Pharmacy dill

It turned out that both fennel and dill (by the way, like carrots) are from the same umbrella family. Only dill, which is also called "ordinary dill", is an annual plant, but fennel, which has another name "pharmaceutical dill", is a biennial and perennial plant. Their differences do not end there.

Having the same shape of leaves and inflorescences, they smell differently. The smell of dill, I think, is familiar to everyone, but the smell of fennel is more reminiscent of the smell of aniseed drops, which you may have been given to drink in childhood in order to alleviate the condition of the body when coughing. The smell is very specific and not to everyone's taste. But who asked us in childhood whether we like it or not? It is now said that if the smell of anise is unpleasant to you, then it is better to replace the anise drops with another medicine. Fortunately, today pharmacies have plenty to choose from. And in the country there are a lot of medicinal plants that are not trampled by knowledgeable people, but are used for their intended purpose.

Neighborhood with fennel

Fennel is considered a quarrelsome vegetable that inhibits the growth of many of its neighbors in the garden. It is a hindrance to the growth of tomatoes and peppers. damages planting of beans, peas, bush beans. They do not like to grow cumin and spinach next to it. If you choose to use large fennel bushes for a hedge that separates different plantings from each other, consider its "antisocial" nature. Some even decorate flower beds by planting a fennel bush in the center of an oval flower bed.

Pests

Fennel does not suffer from pests as much as from a lack of moisture. But such pests as aphids, wood lice, snails do not like fennel. therefore, it can be planted as a nurse plant for vegetables loved by these eaters. Except, of course, those with whom he does not get along.

It is also not liked by fleas living on pets, dogs and cats.

Fennel care

Fennel is easy to care for. Like all plants, he will be grateful for thinning, weeding. Dislikes dry soil. With a lack of moisture, it releases arrows and begins to bloom. If you want to get nutritious heads of cabbage, the plant must be hilled, as potatoes are hilled.

The healing properties of fennel

Fennel is one of the ancient medicines. It will calm your nerves and tame your cough. Medicines from the fruits of the plant will relieve spasm, help to establish the digestive process. With a cold cough, tension in the body will be relieved.

Not only fennel seeds have medicinal properties, but also the stem with leaves. they contain ascorbic acid, B vitamins, carotene, trace elements.

To get rid of insomnia, tidy up the nervous system, it is useful to add a couple of fennel bushes to the bath broom. It will give a scent to the steam, heal the skin, relieve boils.

Cooking use

Fresh leaves, shoots and heads of cabbage are used in the preparation of salads, added to soups, meat and fish dishes, and make side dishes for main courses. If in Russia dill is more often used for these purposes, then those who know a lot about gourmet food, the Italians and the French grow fennel.

Vegetable fennel heads are a delicacy and dietary product. They are eaten fresh or boiled.

Similarly to dill, flower umbrellas are added to sauerkraut and vegetable marinades.