Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Anybody had any luck growing fennel? Lettuce is growing amazingly fast but the fennel we planted seems a tad feeble.

I stuck four seedlings in a couple of weeks ago, stay tunes I guess !

Cheers chillidude. Have you ever eaten it? We saw it on masterchef and thought it looked interesting.

I can't stand the stuff but that's just me
It's got a liquorice/aniseed flavour
For some reason Canadians seem to love it on their seafood

fennel was always called "italian celery" when i was growing up..
great with lots of stuff, sliced thin it's good raw... great cooked with lamb!
i need to try some more recipe's

ever have roasted radishes? almost tastes like cabbage..

we grow it in one of our systems and it grows and flowers and seeds very happily. I haven't harvested it for the bulb yet, we just use the leaves in heaps of different dishes

Yeah, shave it (some of the bulb) thin into a salad.

Or cut the bulb in half, brown the cut side in a frying pan with some butter/oil on high heat. When browned, turn down the heat, add some stock liquid to the pan, put on a lid and simmer for 10 mins ! Then eat

It grows well, but if you give it lots of water tends to go to seed early.
Abuse it in a bed that gets water once a day and it will flourish (the bulb will grow anyhow) perhaps a wicking bed would be good? I don't have one, so couldn't say.
It's fine for stems and leaves if it bolts.
Also feel free to bust off the outside of the bulb, it wont harm the plant. So gradual harvest like used with cos lettuce and celery works well.
Also, try it raw, it's the yummiest raw veggie I've ever tried, like eating a lolly from the garden whilst you're pruning. It's as bad as having ripe berries near you when you're in the garden, not much ever makes it back in-doors.

Awesome, thanks guys. I didn't realise you could eat the leaves as well.
We have planted some in the dirt vege patch just in case the AP fennel fails.
Can't wait to try it.

The youngest leaves fried up with some home made haloumi, some cracked black pepper, olive oil, and a little garlic make the world a better place. I've never grown it because it grows as a weed in all our water ways.

The leaves are used more as a herb in my house.

Given where I see it growing (ie waterways), I would have thought it would go nuts in an aquaponics system. Perhaps it needs a lot of a particular mineral or something.... or perhaps it needs less nutrient. It comes from Greece I think, Greece's soil doesn't look too fertile to me (from what I see on TV).

Try planting it on a rocky hillside overlooking the coast with a stack of expensive yachts in a bay.

I have some grown from a seedling we bought locally.
Some planted in baskets (by wife) one planted in earth garden & one in aquaponics.
The only one going well now is the aquaponics one, but the earth garden one went well and provided plenty of seed.

My wife has not tried to cook any yet, but we will see what happens there. Thanks for the cooking suggestions and use of leaves.

Anyone use the seed in cooking?

Regards,
Tony

It grows wild here. I have a few "volunteers" in my yard right now. I would pick and eat it often when I was a kid. I haven't tried cooking with it. What are some good recipes?

If you like Indian food - Biryani is made with Fennel seeds. It is a long recipe but tastes very good.

Biryani

for the stock:
1 kilogram goat -- ribs, some bone meat, cartilage meat (yeah - goat - you could use chicken but it isn't as good)
1 whole onion
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon garlic
2 Tablespoons coriander seed -- in tea ball/strainer so that it is easy to throw out
4 tablespoons fennel seeds -- in tea ball
2 teaspoons salt
5 cups water
1 stick cinnamon
3 Whole cardamom -- black
3 Whole cardamom -- white

Boil meat, quartered onion, 1 teaspoon garlic, ginger, salt, 3 black cardamom, 3 green/white cardamom, 1" , cinnamon with a tea ball of coriander and fennel in 5 cups water. Strain water and set aside, set meat aside aswell. Throw away whole spices retain the liquid and the meat

For Frying the Onions

1 whole onion -- sliced
1 whole bay leaf
1 teaspoon garlic
For Cooking the Rice

separately, fry onion and bay leaf. set out on absorbent paper - crush with hand -
In onion oil, fry meat and a big pinch of fried onions, 1 t of garlic -set aside.


For Cooking the Rice

2 cups rice -- wash and soak (if time)2 teaspoons oil
2 big cardamom
2 small cardamom
4 whole peppercorns
3 whole clove
1 whole bay leaf
1 teaspoon garlic
1/2 teaspoon cumin seed

In a big pot, add 2 T oil and a pinch of the fried onion, 1 bay leaf 4 peppercorns, 2 big cardamoms, 2 small cardamoms, 3 cloves, 1/2 tea cumin seeds, tsp garlic Mix so it is pasty. Add rice and coat gently. Add yakhni water and bring to boil. Let cook on full until drying then simmer add safron color and onions to top to garnish

Wow, thats sounds beautiful snazzy!

We have grown some of it here, mostly in the aquaponics, seems to do fairly well.