Dill weed is used to flavor many dishes including salads, vegetables, meats, and sauces.Type of plant: Dill is a biennial herb often grown as an annual.Dill is a bushy plant with feathery foliage that grows 2 to 4 feet tall and half as wide; each plant grows a single hollow stem with umbrella-shaped flower heads.Dill has small greenish-yellow flowers bloom on flat-topped clusters or umbels about 6 inches across; seeds ripen in early autumn.Finely-cut, feathery blue-green leaves similar to fennel but shorter and smaller atop hollow stems with green and white stripes.Seedlings form taproots that transplant poorly so dill is most easily started and grown in place.Dill seed can be started indoors 4 to 6 weeks before transplanting to the garden.Seedlings form taproots that transplant poorly so dill is most easily started and grown in place.Outdoor planting time: Sow dill in the garden after the danger of frost has passed.Sow successive crops of dill every 3 to 4 weeks for a continuous fresh harvest.Sow successive crops of dill every 3 to 4 weeks for a continuous fresh harvest.Grow 10 dill plants over the course of the season for cooking and culinary use; sow several successions two weeks apart.Dill attracts the caterpillars that turn into black swallowtail butterflies.Once established dill will grow best if the soil is allowed to nearly dry between waterings.Once established dill will grow best if the soil is allowed to nearly dry between waterings.Side dress dill two or three times during the growing season with compost tea.Side dress dill two or three times during the growing season with compost tea.Dill may be attacked by parsley caterpillars and tomato hornworms; handpick pests off the plant.When to harvest: Snip fresh dill leaves as needed during the growing season after plants have reached 8 inches tall or more.Snip fresh dill leaves as needed during the growing season after plants have reached 8 inches tall or more.How to harvest: Cut leaves or stems with a garden snip or scissors.Dill has a buttery green flavor with a hint of citrus; seeds are strong-flavored, slightly bitter-tasting similar to caraway.When mincing dill, preserve the delicate flavor by snipping with scissors rather than slicing with a knife.Use fresh or dried leaves with lamb, pork, poultry, cheese, cream, eggs, cabbage, onions, cauliflower, parsnips, squash, eggplant, spinach, potatoes, broccoli, turnips, cucumbers, carrots, green beans, tomatoes, avocadoes, eggs, and apples.Fresh dill leaves lose their fragrance when heated so add them at the very end of cooking.When mincing dill, preserve the delicate flavor by snipping with scissors rather than slicing with a knife.Use fresh or dried leaves with lamb, pork, poultry, cheese, cream, eggs, cabbage, onions, cauliflower, parsnips, squash, eggplant, spinach, potatoes, broccoli, turnips, cucumbers, carrots, green beans, tomatoes, avocadoes, eggs, and apples.Fresh dill leaves lose their fragrance when heated so add them at the very end of cooking.Use fresh or dried seeds in salad dressing, sauces, stews, butter and cheese spreads, and egg dishes.Refrigeration: Leaves will keep in the crisper for a couple of days folded into a damp paper towel and placed in a plastic bag.Freeze stems whole; later snip off frozen leaves with scissors as you need them and return the rest to the freezer.Freeze stems whole; later snip off frozen leaves with scissors as you need them and return the rest to the freezer.
Edward R. Forte
Author
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