herb
Foraging Fennel
Wild fennel grows everywhere. Fronds & pollen spring/summer, seeds in fall.
What to do with it
- Fronds: herb for fish & salads
- Pollen: sprinkle as seasoning
- Bulb: roast or shave raw
Ways to keep it
- Dry the seeds
- Fennel-bulb kraut (ferment)
- Pickle the bulb (vinegar)
- Pollen keeps dry for months
About Fennel
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is a flowering plant species in the carrot family. It is a hardy, perennial herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. It is indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean but has become widely naturalized in many parts of the world, especially on dry soils near the sea coast and on riverbanks. It is a highly flavorful herb used in cooking and, along with the similar-tasting anise, is one of the primary ingredients of absinthe. Florence fennel or finocchio (UK: , US: , Italian: [fiˈnɔkkjo]) is a selection with a swollen, bulb-like stem base (sometimes called bulb fennel) that is used as a vegetable.
From Wikipedia.
Tree and plant locations come from Falling Fruit, a volunteer-run map of the urban harvest, used under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. This project is non-commercial. Locations are crowd-sourced and provided as-is — always confirm a plant's identity and that you're welcome to pick before foraging.
Photos and descriptions from Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons. Maps © OpenStreetMap contributors. Not affiliated with Falling Fruit, Wikimedia, or OpenStreetMap.