An Accent Herb and A Recipe to Use It!

Our bronze fennel (Foeniculum vulgare 'bronze')  is looking pretty good this year.  It does like full sun and it is hardy to Zone 5 easily.  This fennel doesn't create a bulb, but you can use the feathery leaves and seeds just as you would the regular fennel.  I love it because it adds a foliage accent to your herb or perennial garden.  It has a nice licorice or anise flavor.  I use it when I bake fish in the oven for myself.  I place a nice piece of whitefish like tilapia, flounder or cod in a baking dish.  Add the fennel with some fresh bread crumbs on top, add a couple of tablespoons of white wine or stock.  Bake in a 400 degree oven for 12 minutes.  Melt a tablespoon of butter and add some garlic powder to it.  Take fish out, pour butter/garlic mixture on top.  Place back in the oven for additional minute.  Yummy!

You just want to make sure that once the bronze fennel starts producing flower stalks that you let some of it come to seed, but most of it you want to cut.  You will have an abundance of bronze fennel in your garden if you don't.  They are buggers to remove!  It like dill and regular fennel has a long taproot, so pick a spot where you want it to grow and do not try to move it.  It will resent the move!  I forgot to mention that bronze fennel like the green version regular fennel and dill are larval food for swallowtail butterflies.  Always a good thing.  I hope you are having a great day and evening wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.