Hi All,
This is my first post having lurked and gleaned for a few weeks so be gentle..
I am going to try growing Florence fennel this year for the first time, but other than having seen Hugh Ferneley Whittinstall growing them know nothing about them.
The seed packet says to sow direct outside in May but at Wisley on sunday I saw a seed tray in one of their greenhouses with some very tidy specimens.
Also what do you do with it one you harvest, assuming I get that far.
Thanks all,
Adrian
Off to a good start, then?
Like with so many things, I sow indoors for reliabiliy. But sow for succession. And some varieties like to be started later than others. Check.
Eating? Our favourites are raw in salad, & roast or baked. For the latter - cut in half vertically, place in foil, add butter or good olive oil, s&p, bake 25 min.
PS For instance, ours likes to be sown outside from mid-May. Later sowings are less likely to bolt.
PPS Google 'cooking fennel'.
Mmm thanks I'm already thinking about the eating stage.
Will try sowing some in the greenhouse as well. For some reason whenever the seed packed says sow direct I think that they must be one of those things that doesnt like transplanting. But then I transplant carrots and beetroot all the time!
I do a mean fennel and smoked haddock risooto, also good in a chicken stew.
Mine seem to have overwintered, be interesting to see what happens from here on in.
Jeremy
Mine all bolted last year which could have been down to lack of water, or rough handling when planted out. Finally have a few to try again.
mine all bolted last year too, trying again this year and hoping for better success as I love fennel :)
Ours were all ok and went into stews and salads as Tim said. Nice and crunchy. Also good roasted with other veg or with fish.
Fennel seems to be pretty picky about when it's sown, I think the later sowings work better for the variety I've got even though the book says earlier.
In other words if it bolts it's worth sowing again as that one may well work.
Jeremy
I sowed mine later rather than sooner last year, the bulbs were small, but delish and no bolting!
This sounds familiar-it is all about finding the variety that suits one`s soil,some folk can grow Zefo,but I am a Rudy fan
I sow mine in modules and plant whenever-and a tip,when you harvest them twist them out to leave the root in-they will regrow, not for the bulbs but for the re-growth in the stock pot.
Stephan
Good thinking!
Just sowed a couple of modules yesterday..... Fingers crossed!
All of mine bolted last year.
I started it indoors and planted it out after the frosts. I'm not sure if it was rough handling or too little water.
I'm going to try again this year.
(typical isn't it - my favourite veggies are parsnip, fennel and sprouts. last year all the fennel bolted and the parsnips didn't germinated. I keep wondering what's going to go wrong with my sprouts - 1st year growing them this year!)
oh and watch out for slugs.
Good point Aqui -slugs love 'em.
I sowed mine later and the first lot bolted -might have been July before some took. I do always start fennel (and lots of other things) in modules, direcly sown the slugs seem to get them as they come up.
Jeremy
We planted bulb fennel quite late last year but it was excellent. We protected it at first with grey plastic down pipe and left it on til it started getting too fat for the pipe. No problems with it but that may have been beginner's luck :)
Sown late & direct = no bolting
Unless you grow 'Mantovano' which, they (& we) hope, will work from an earlier sowing.