Fennel

Feniculum vulgare Mill is a one-, two- or perennial plant of the umbellate family with a round, branchy stem on top and leaves cut into filamentous segments.

Small flowers with yellowish petals are collected in an umbrella. Fruits - greyish-green, oblong, ribbed dvusemyanki, have a pleasant smell, sweetish to the taste. Fennel, in contrast to dill, in the first year forms a root crop and a green aerial part, and in the second year grows an arrow on which fruits with seeds are formed.

There is a fennel from Southern Europe, from the Mediterranean Sea and Asia Minor, from where it spread to other regions. In Middle Europe fennel came in the Middle Ages. Thanks to the pleasant taste and smell of it since ancient times used as a spice, then it began its medical application.

In the wild, fennel grows on dry slopes along the roads in the Crimea and the Caucasus. Cultivate it in the south of Ukraine and in Central Asia. Fennel seeds contain fats, sugar, proteins and 0.5 to 4% essential oil. The characteristic odor is caused by anethole and fenchone.

Even the ancient Romans, Egyptians, Greeks, Indians and Chinese valued it as spice and medicine.

A close relative of dill is fennel( a pharmacy dill).But, unlike dill, this plant is thermophilic. Therefore, in the conditions of the North-West it is sown in the open ground in early June, after the spring frosts pass, or grown through seedlings, which are then planted according to the scheme of 30 x 30 cm. But it is not advised to sow it in the greenhouse,the amount of phytoncids that suppress the growth of absolutely all cultures. Such an unfriendly plant.
Requirements : Being a typical Mediterranean vegetable, fennel loves warmth and light. The site of its landing should be as much as possible protected from winds. Preference is given to clay soils with a low content of lime, rich in humus.

Composition: in green contains 50-90 mg% ascorbic acid, 6-10 mg% routine, a large number of essential oils.

Cultivation: is grown by fennel seeding in open ground from spring to June and seedlings. Sow seeds in rows with a distance between them 50-60 cm to a depth of 2-3 cm. It is better to grow seedlings under glass. In each pot are placed on 2-3 seeds, after germination leave one most powerful plant, which later and is transplanted into the open ground. Very convenient paper pots, because they do not need to be removed when planted in the ground. Tuberous fennel should be transplanted, being careful, as restraining the growth of the plant after transplantation increases the tendency to shoots.

Care: shoots are thinned with an interval of 15-20 cm. The ground between rows should be regularly loosened. As the growth of plants, the growing tubers should be slightly uplifted. In the absence of rain, irrigation is required, even in autumn.

Do not apply too much fertilizer The need for fennel in nutrients is relatively low. Quite a few organic fertilizers are sufficient before planting. A soil rich in humus generally does not need fertilizers.

Harvesting : remove the fennel when the stem at the base of the plant in diameter reaches 10 mm. Cut the leaves 15-20 cm above the fleshy thickening. The cut greens are dried in the shade in bunches or spread out in a thin layer and are often turned over. In tuber fennel, when stored, the roots are not trimmed, the leaves are shortened.

Ways of using

In medicine, fennel fruits are used. Fennel oil is prepared with dill water, which is used in children's practice as an expectorant and laxative. Fennel fruits are used to stimulate appetite, improve digestion, with the accumulation of gases in the intestines, gastric and intestinal spasms and colic, bile and nephrolithiasis, and also as an expectorant for inflammatory diseases of the respiratory tract and lungs, fennel oil is used for the preparation of medicines. Fennel fruits are a part of different collections of medicinal herbs( teas): laxatives, carminative, choleretic, thoracic and soothing.

Infusion of fennel fruits is prepared as follows: take 1 tablespoon of fruit, grind them, then pour 0.5 liters of boiling water and insist 1-2 hours. Take it half a cup 15 minutes before meals 4-5 times a day.

About Vospel fennel used for food in fresh or boiled form. Sheets are used as a spicy seasoning for soups, meat and vegetable dishes, as well as spices for canning.

Fennel has a greenery similar to dill, but it has the smell of anise and the same sweetish flavor.

There is a fennel ordinary leaf, and there is a vegetable, or petiolate. In the latter, the lower part of the leaves has a large thickening, and it is used for salads.

The thick part of the petiole is shredded together with apples, cabbage or carrots and dressed with vegetable oil or mayonnaise, boiled and eaten with butter and breadcrumbs, as fennel is a valuable product in dietary nutrition. Under adverse conditions, thickening on the petioles of the leaves is not formed.

Most often, fennel greens are used for pickling and canning.

Fennel is useful for bloating, since it has a carminative effect( dill water is sold in pharmacies), use it and as a cholagogue. In addition, fennel contains a large amount of routine that strengthens the immune system.

Fennel seeds are a part of many therapeutic teas and dues: laxative, carminative, breast, choleretic, soothing. In dried form, fennel retains its aroma.