Salad Days: The Fennel From My Seedy Penpal


This month's Salad Days is doubling up as my Seedy Penpals progress post as this week I've been pondering the fennel Joanna sent me recently.

On the plus side germination has been quite good and I seem to have managed to sow thinly enough so I don't need to take out any of the seedlings.

However, they're quite leggy. The ivy on the fence above them is fruiting in profusion, thus casting quite a bit of shade for most of the day. I've now moved them into a warmer, sunnier spot on the patio. As we're past the autumn equinox, that extra bit of warmth and light is precious. So too is the ivy's fruit as it'll be hoovered up by the birds.

Whether I'll get any delicious fennel bulbs this year remains to be seen. I suspect not if the return to cooler weather continues and I may have sown the seed a wee bit too late. Whatever happens, I'm looking forward to adding some of those fronds to liven up our autumn salads.

How's your salad coming along this month? I reported on the rest of my progress last week, do add yours to Mr Linky below:

Comments

  1. Anna28 September 2012 at 10:10

    Will be interested to hear whether they manage to morph into bulbs. I'm sure that the foliage though will add some extra sparkle to your salads VP.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Esther Montgomery28 September 2012 at 10:28

    Bulbs may be a bit hopeful but the leaves smell wonderful. It grows wild where I live.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ediblethings28 September 2012 at 10:48

    I'm very interested to see the progress on the bulbs too. If you do get excess, Diana Henry has a really good Nicoise vegetable stew that you can use to eat them up, as well as your salads. I'm just loving seeing these Seedy Penpal progress reports.

    I haven't quite managed to catch up on all my posts, having lost a load of photos when the camera went down. I have still to come a chicken and mango Thai salad, that uses up everything from spinach to shiso, and I'm currently sprouting some burdock seeds, to see how they go.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Gardeningbren29 September 2012 at 01:28

    I love Fennel...the seeds, the bulb, the fern...so delicious. You have a great start there for cut and come again for your salads.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Margaret30 September 2012 at 16:26

    I've grown some fennel from seed this year too. It looks ok at the moment, but as I've never grown it before I'm not sure what it does and how long it takes to grow

    ReplyDelete
  6. ediblethings30 September 2012 at 17:14

    Hi Michelle, do you mind if I add your posts to the link-up for the Seedy Penpals updates, so everyone can see what you have done with your seeds?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Donna@Gardens Eye View1 October 2012 at 10:18

    I am hoping to grow fennel next year so I will be looking for your posts as to how this goes....I have had some time to finally link in...although my veg garden and lettuces are at the end of the post.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Andrea1 October 2012 at 12:33

    Forgot to join in with salad days last month(the weeks are flying by)
    Love the fine foliage of fennel and of course the flavor too, funny enough I haven't grown it before.

    ReplyDelete
  9. VP2 October 2012 at 13:13

    Anna - I had a peek this morning and the bulbs are just starting to form. I reckon if I put their windowbox under some shelter, I might just get some small bulbs to try this month :)

    Esther - we have wild fennel around here too and I collect the seeds to make fennel tea. However, that's not the bulb form.

    Ediblethings - I do like the sound of that stew, I must look it up. Do please add it to your Seedy Penpal round up :)

    gardeningbren - we're having some of the fronds in our salad tonight :)

    Margaret - I would have done better if I'd sown the seed in July which is usually when I do it. It's hard to say whether that would have made things better though, with the kind of weather we're having this year!

    Donna - great to see you back with us this month :)

    Andrea - great to see you back too - I'll be over to see you, Donna and everyone else who's left their links in Mr Linky this month

    ReplyDelete

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