dill, dill stems and dill seeds

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

thanks for the reminder Ridge! i mostly use the leaves when i'm cooking Thai food so i never really think of using just the seed & calling them coriander. i think dh uses coriander when he cooks curry but i could be wrong about that.

 

[seedcorn]

I don't just throw the seeds on the soil surface and it grows but that probably would work. If I let to go to seed and just leave it, I get volunteers the next year. To get technical, the name of the plant is coriander, the seed is the spice coriander, but the leaves are called cilantro. Somebody on here corrected me when I misused the terms. Until then I'd always called the plant cilantro.

I let the plant go to seed and the seeds pretty much dry on the plant, then cut them off and put them in a brown paper bag in an outbuilding so they finish drying. Then I separate the seeds from the dried plant and try to get rid of the trash. Next, the seeds go into a glass jar until I'm ready to plant them. When I plant them, after the ground has warmed a bit, I dig up an area so I have loose soil and scatter the seeds. Then I stir the soil with my fingers just to mix it up. Some seeds get buried a bit, some are still on top of the surface. I don't know which grow but I usually get great germination. I thin them out and maybe transplant some of the thinnings if I want a few more. They usually transplant really well.

When I harvest the herb cilantro (the leaves) I pretty much cut them back to the ground, leaving just a small bud. That way they don't go to seed an die but keep producing new leaves.

Good to know on cutting back. I’ve just picked a few leaves and plant goes to seed quick.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Good to know on cutting back. I’ve just picked a few leaves and plant goes to seed quick.

I treat a lot of things that way, cut them back so they have to regrow. Oregano is cut to the ground. With Basil I leave a bud for it to grow from, actually two since they are in pairs. Parsley gets whacked pretty close to the ground, it will come back as long as there is a bud. I treat some of your favorites that way, kale and chard. Just leave a tiny leaf so they can keep growing. I can usually keep most of these going a long time as long as I don't let them go to seed.

 

[ducks4you]

I don't bother to do ANYTHING to my oregano. It grows like a weed. I might transplant some of it to my vegetable beds this year to help with weeds.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I dehydrate oregano so I cut it back when I harvest. I often put up two quarts a year. I've found it best to whack it to the ground when I do that, if i cut it off up high that stem dies anyway and is just in the way.

I hear you on the weeds though, my problem is Bermuda grass. I plan on doing the same thing, restart the oregano clump in a cleaner area. My current oregano clump is probably five feet in diameter. That's a lot of oregano.

 

[ducks4you]

Mine is just as big and tries to spread. I REALLY need to dig and separate and fix my "oregano bed", which I meant to be an herb garden but it has gotten out of hand. 'O'

 

[flowerbug]

for the first round of making dill pickles for this season i went out yesterday to cut some dill from the area it has regrown from seeds.

there was one lone plant a bit aways from the others and i cut most of it down. with all the rains we've been having and it's uncompetitive environment the stems even a few feet above the ground were almost an inch across and still pretty tender. so i've been munching on them. some i diced up and put in the jars. my brother said he wanted a lot of dill...

 

[YourRabbitGirl]

last year i had plenty of dill, which is always a good thing, i've decided i probably like pickled dill more than i like the pickles themselves... because of having so many stems around from processing into the canning jars i set aside a pile of stems to dry for later use. aka me chewing on them.

not quite as sturdy as a toothpick, but the flavor is much better.

when i go out into the garden to pick anything i'll often check the dill to see if there's a few flower heads i can munch on. have to make sure the ladybugs and spiders aren't on there, but otherwise good eats.

i have tons of seeds from last year, we'll probably by starts anyways, i'm pretty sure it would be a really bad idea for me to scatter these seeds all over the place, but i am sorely tempted...

the only part of the plant i've not done anything with is the root. makes me wonder... anyone done anything with dill roots? are they edible?

Tiny, tender stems can be cut right along with the leaves, but thicker stems can also be put to good use. Put the stems along with the flowers in the pickle container, add them to the garni bouquet, or stuff the fish with the dill stems before grilling or roasting.