Dill is a great herb that is especially useful for pickling vegetables and for adding flavor to meats, fish and salads. Dill is very easy to grow from seed. Just plant it directly in your garden shortly before the last frost of spring. You’ll soon get a tall, attractive plant (dill grows up to three feet tall) with beautiful feathery leaves and small yellow flowers. Here are some beautiful photos of the dill plant http://www.gartenspaziergang.de/pf_dill.html. Dill doesn’t transplant well, so decide where you want it and keep it there. It your plant gets tall and unwieldy, you can tie it to a stake to give it extra support. If you keep several plants bunched together, you made not need to stake them. While dill is one of the easiest herbs to grow, you’ll need to sow the seeds in a sunny place to have a healthy plant. If you plan on growing dill in a container, make sure that you have a container with space to accommodate the long roots.
Dill’s scientific name is Anethum graveolens and it is an annual. Often called “Dill Weed,” this herb also has fame as a medicinal plant. People have used dill as a sedative and as a cure for gas and colic in babies.
In the kitchen, you can make use of both the leaves and the seed. The seeds, however, have a stronger fennel flavor than the plant itself. To use the leaves, it’s best to pick thems as the flowers begin to open. Store the leaves wrapped in a moist paper towel and sealed in plastic bag in the refrigerator. You can also freeze the leaves. When the seeds are smooth and brown, they are ready to harvest. Dry them out first and then store them in a sealed container. You can use the seeds to make a flavorful oil. You can also place a sprig of dill or a pinch of seeds in vinegar to make a delicious marinade or salad dressing.
