Fennel appears in various forms within the range of food and medicinal products, for example as fennel tea, in the form of fennel seeds or as fresh vegetables. The great tuber can easily be cultivated in your own garden in warm and sunny locations. Depending on the variety and the intended use, you can harvest fennel in different ways.
How and when should you harvest fennel?
Fennel is ready to harvest in about 12 weeks after sowing. Bulbous fennel is harvested as soon as the tubers are fist-sized, but before they become woody. Spice fennel, on the other hand, is harvested by cutting off the herb when the golden yellow umbels are visible in midsummer in order to obtain the aromatic fennel seeds.
The cultivation period of fennel
When sown directly outdoors, fennel plants need around 12 weeks to reach a harvestable size. However, this mainly applies if you want to use the tubers of this tasty vegetable. If, on the other hand, you are mainly interested in the fennel seeds, you will have to wait for the flowers to ripen in mid-summer.
Prevent bulbous fennel from becoming woody
Once fennel bulbs have reached the size of a human fist, they can be harvested for fresh consumption or freezing. If you leave them in the vegetable patch for a longer period of time, they can grow even larger and be harvested fresh later. However, you should definitely protect the plants from excessive heat and drying out of the substrate in order to avoid the tubers becoming woody.
Harvesting the seeds of spice fennel
To get the coveted fennel seeds, you have to wait for the fennel herb to bloom. This becomes visible in golden yellow umbels in midsummer and is particularly pronounced in the so-called spiced fennel. Harvest the aromatic seeds by cutting the herb directly at the tubers.
Easily separate the fennel seeds from the herb
Harvesting fennel seeds is particularly uncomplicated if you harvest them from the plants with the faded herb. To do this, wait for the right time to ripen and tie bouquets to dry. If they are hung upside down above a smooth and clean surface, falling fennel seeds can be easily collected.
Fresh fennel as a vegetable
Fresh fennel with its aromatic-tasting tubers can be eaten as a fresh vegetable from August until the onset of winter. It is digestible raw or cooked for humans and dogs.
Tips & Tricks
If you miss the right harvest time, you don't have to pull out woody fennel bulbs and throw them away. For example, cut off the old leaves to harvest seeds and wait for new leaves to sprout. These can then be excellently processed into salads or mixed vegetables.
