Page 11 - Simply Veg Issue 3 2019

Florence Fennel
John Trim
Tips on cultivation – From sowing until harvest will take approximately 100 days. The bulbs are just right for harvest when they attain tennis ball size.
The plants don’t like root disturbance. So, you must either sow them in the position where they will grow to maturity or start them off in modules. Do not plant outside until all danger of frost has past.
Planting out – Florence Fennel grow best on an open sunny site. They thrive in a fertile, warm, moist, well drained sandy soil. Though they must be kept well watered in dry conditions. space the fennel 12” / 30cm apart. Feed with a high Potash fertiliser every two weeks once the plants are well established.
To blanch the bulbs, draw up the soil to the bottom leaves 20 days before harvest. Care must be taken against slug damage which would mar the appearance of the bulbs.
Fennel 'Romanesco'
Selecting for show –
Choose large clean bulbs with fleshy swollen leave bases. Trim the foliage back to approximately 3” / 75mm.
Culinary uses – Florence Fennel can
be cooked in a variety of ways. Steamed, grilled or boiled. Delicious served with a cheese sauce. To enhance the flavour when using in salads, cut slivers off the bulb and immerse in ice water. Put into a fridge for an hour before serving. The young foliage can also be used as a herb in anything requiring an aniseed flavour.
It is possibly too late to sow the seed now and aim to produce a winning exhibit for Harrogate, but there is still plenty of time to produce good sized bulbs for eating. Fennel is quite hardy and can be harvested right through to late October in the Southern U.K and I would have thought in most of the remaining parts of the country. It is important to harvest the bulb before it gets tough and stringy, although the foliage can be used to flavour soups and salads.
Florence Fennel is also called Sweet Fennel, Finocchio and Florentine, it was introduced from Italy during the early 1800’s and was introduced to the USA at about the same time. It was used by the Romans so has been in cultivation for a long time. It is grown for its leaves, swollen bulbs, seeds and roots, so all parts of the plant can be used! It is biennial, so the seeds will not be
Fennel Rondo
available until the second year.
Fennel is a Mediterranean marsh plant and
likes warm, moist but well drained, rich soils. This is the reason it should not be sown too early or it will bolt and go to seed. Fennel is prone to bolting, in fact that is possibly its only problem as it seems to get few pests or diseases. As well as cold temperatures, dry conditions, transplanting and other stresses will encourage it to bolt – but at least you can use the seed!
The flowers will attract bees and other pollinating insects so would be useful in a wildflower garden or a few plants allowed
to grow to flower for the pollinating insects. There are also darker leaved forms that
look nice in the flower borders as does the normal green leaved cultivars. So save some space in your vegetable patch / allotment and grow them in your borders.
If the bulbs are harvested by cutting
them approx. 2 to 3cm above soil level new growth will sprout and this can be used
in salads and soups to flavour them. The regrowth last year continued up to Christmas outside here in the South.
Cultivars
As well as D.T. Browns new fennel there are other cultivars that produce good crops in the U.K. these include:
In the April 2019 edition of Simply Vegetables there was a free packet of Florence Fennel seed kindly donated by D.T Brown who are sponsoring a class for this vegetable at the Harrogate show this year. John Trim very kindly wrote the article below for the April magazine, but I had to remove it to make space for a last-minute article from D.T.Brown’s on the Fennel seed they were supplying. The article was put onto the NVS website but as fennel can still be sown I thought I would put it into this edition of the magazine as well as many members do not have access to the website - Ed
Intercropping Lettuce and Fennel 'Solaris'
Rudy F1 Zefa Fino Rondo
Romanesco Finale Cantino
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Florence Fennel