A Taste for Herbs. Sue Goetz
Florence fennel (Foeniculum vulgare var. azoricum), ‘Romanesco’ or ‘Victorio’.
PARTS OF THE PLANT USED: Leaves and seeds of sweet and bronze varieties. The bulb of Florence fennel.
IN THE GARDEN: Sweet fennel and bronze fennel are easily grown from seed. The plant prefers full sun with consistent moisture in well-draining soil. Plants don’t like to be crowded, so keep them thinned to about 10 to 12 inches apart from each other. Fennel can be a bit invasive and is showing up on noxious weed lists across the country. (Check with your county extension agent if it is a problem in your area.) Cut the flower heads from the plant before they seed to keep it from self-sowing around the garden. Bronze fennel has dark, lacy foliage that adds nice texture to container gardens. Plant fennel seeds in the garden when the soil warms in the spring. The variety commonly known as Florence fennel produces a large, bulb-like base. Plant Florence fennel seed with a spacing of 12 inches, to give room for the bulb to grow. The plants need a long season and rich well-draining soil to produce a nice bulb. For the bulb type of fennel start seeds indoors and place plants out in the garden in the spring as soon as the danger of frost has passed.
HARVEST NOTES:
• Harvest the feathery leaves anytime for fresh use.
• Harvest the flower and seed heads to dry using the same method as dill.
• The bulb of Florence fennel is ready to harvest when the bulb is about the size of a tennis ball. If the bulb gets too big and mature, it may become stringy with an unpleasant texture.
FOOD AND FLAVORING: Fennel is very recognizable by its strong anise fragrance and flavor. The chopped leaves are used on fish and do particularly well to improve the digestibility of oily fish. Use fennel leaves in soups, stews and salad. Fennel seeds can be used as a substitute for anise seed in recipes. The taste is milder but still imparts the licorice-like scent and flavor. Sauté the seeds in stir-fry and rice dishes. The seeds are a main flavoring used in Italian sausage making. The bulbous base of Florence fennel can be sliced raw for use in leaf lettuce salads. Sauté large pieces of the bulb in butter to impart an anise flavor; add shrimp, green beans or peas pods for a sweet, mellow dish. (For recipes that use fennel, see pages 108 and 180.)
OTHER USES: The seed of sweet fennel is long revered as a stomach calmer. Fennel tea: Add 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds to 1 cup of boiling water. Crush the seeds slightly while in the hot water and allow to steep for 1 minute. Strain the tea before drinking and garnish with a fresh slice of orange. The infusion can also be used as a mouthwash or a gargle to calm a sore throat. The seeds are used to flavor liquors and candy. In the garden the umbel-shaped flowers are one of the important host plants for swallowtail butterflies.
Bronze Fennel
(Foeniculum vulgare dulce ‘Rubrum’)
COMMON NAME: Lavender
BOTANICAL NAME: Lavandula spp.
VARIETIES TO LOOK FOR: There are hundreds of varieties of lavender to choose from. For the best taste, the English varieties and a few hybrids are the ones to grow for flavor. Generally, the darker the flower color of the Lavandula angustifolia varieties the sweeter the flavor. Look for ‘Hidcote’, ‘Munstead’, ‘Royal Velvet’, and ‘Sachet’. ‘Melissa’ is a pale pink flowering cultivar that has a nice sweet flavor. The Lavandins (Lavandula x intermedia) ‘Grosso, ‘Provence’, ‘Seal’ are larger plants and heavy flower producers.
PART OF THE PLANT USED: Flower buds
IN THE GARDEN: Lavender is a sun-loving perennial. The English lavenders are hardy to USDA Zones 5 or 6 with the variety ‘Munstead’ being one of the hardiest and will survive USDA Zone 4 winters. The hybrid Lavandins are less hardy and do best in USDA Zone 6 to 10. All lavenders dislike nourished soil; garden ground that is heavily composted or too rich may grow healthy plants but will not have good flower production. Plant lavender in rocky, lean soil. Good drainage is imperative to avoid root rot. In rainy climates, especially those with cool, wet winters, top dress around the base of the plants with white gravel or oyster shells to keep the foliage from lying in wet soil. If the flowers are cut or sheared back after they fade in mid-summer, the plants tend to have a second flush of flowers later in the season.
HARVEST NOTES:
• The stems of lavender are best harvested when the light-gray color of the still-closed flower buds begin to deepen in color to purple. This is the maturity stage just before the bud opens into petal. Some of the lower petals on the stem may be open, but the best essential oil is in the plump and colorful bud.
• Fresh use: Cut from the garden, the buds can be gently stripped from the stems.
• To dry: Cut long stems with flower buds and bind them together into bundles with a rubber band.
• Hang to dry, keep a watch on the drying bundles before the buds begin to shatter off. To catch the buds as they are drying, you can enclose the bundle in a paper bag, as the flower buds shatter off they will fall into the bottom (see the paper bag method in the general harvest section.)
• When the buds are completely dry, shake them from the stems and store them in a glass jar.
FOOD AND FLAVORING: Lavender has an earthy, sweet, perfume flavor. The English lavenders have the sweetest flavor, perfect for desserts, jellies and cocktails. The Lavandins have higher notes of camphor and menthol, giving them a more pungent aroma that combines with pepper and savory seasonings. Use fresh stems of lavender in bud as swizzle sticks in cocktails and summer drinks. Lavender mixed with lemon in recipes makes the lavender taste better because the essential oils in the plants contain small amounts of limonene, which is the same component that gives lemon its classic fresh fragrance. (For recipes that use lavender, see pages 102
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