For Flighty - some Fennel

[Squash64]

A photo of some fennel, taken at a street market in Agrigento, Sicily

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[Squash64]

[Flighty]

Thanks! That's known as Florence fennel here -

http://www.rhs.org.uk/Gardening/Grow-Your-Own/Veg-A-to-Z/Florence-fennel

which is different to my Common fennel where just the leaves and seeds are used.

[Obelixx]

Hello Flighty.  You live just up the road from where we lived - Sandringham Crescent - before we came to Belgium 20 years ago.  Never knew there was a horticultural society.

I once sowed rows of Florence fennel in that garden but OH didn't recognise it and weeded them for me.  Had to tell him about weeds and straight lines.  Now I buy plugs from a local market.  Must harvest the last few bulbs this weekend before they get frozen.

[Flighty]

Obbelix hello, and as they say it sure is a small world!
The Newton Park Horticultural Society has been going since 1939, and the trading hut is tucked away off Alexandra Avenue by the Newton Park East Allotments as you head towards Rayners Lane.
I don't think that I've ever seen Florence fennel bulbs so will ask if anyone grows them! 

[Obelixx]

Next to the driving place?   I know the allotments but not the society.

Home grown fennel freshly picked and juicy is delicious compared to the stuff in shops which can be a bit dried and stale by the time it arrives.   We eat it raw in salads with apple and walnuts or pecans and a bit of mayonnaise and we also like it halved and baked with parmesan - classic Italian dish - or quartered and baked with sun dried tomatoes, goat's cheese, pne nuts and a sprinkling of olive oil and chopped garlic or cut in chunks and added to roast Mediterranean veggies.

[Flighty]

No just beyond the council flats on the other, left-hand side, of the road. There are allotment sites on both sides of the road virtually opposite each other.  The driving place has long gone and is now all houses.
That all sounds rather tasty so I may well grow some next year.

[Obelixx]

Aaargh!  I've just looked at a map and they have street called Learner Drive where the riding school was.

Do give Florence fennel a go.  It's very good and, apart from the learner weeder, I managed decent crops in my garden, just as I do now.   You ay even get a visit from swallow tailed butterflies in a good summer as their caterpillars like the fronds but leave the bulb alon.  Civilised beasties and attractive too.

[pansy potter]

I grew some this year and they did quite well. You have to watch them though cos as soon as one starts going up the others do likewise. I did freeze some but when I got them out to use for a casserole they had gone a little brown. They still went in with all the other stuff and weren't even noticable when cooked.