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In the Garden

It's been a while since I did a garden update, so here's what's happening: my guy is rebuilding the fence after discovering a nasty infestation of carpenter ants in the old wood.

Thanks to Maria sending me the seeds I'm growing fennel for the first time, and it's gigantic.

I'm harvesting carrots almost every day from this patch; they're small but very sweet and tasty, and go well in salads and winter dishes.

A few of our older green onion plants have bolted, and as you see here have sprouted seed heads. I'm going to try to grow some from seed.

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Maria Zannini said…
Fun fact about fennel. It's best to always grow it in a pot. Fennel is allelopathic. It has compounds that can inhibit growth of any plant that grows next to it.

Don't set it too close to dill either. They're kissing cousins and could cross pollinate, reducing the flavor of dill.

One nice by-product of fennel is that its the host plant for swallowtail butterflies. The swallowtail caterpillars sometimes devour the plant to nubs, but the leaves always grow back. If I have extra pots I sometimes plant extra just to encourage more butterflies.
March 30, 2024 at 3:48 PM
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