I love to garden but one of my favorite things is my herb garden. There is nothing like my herb garden in early morning when all the herbs are fresh and clean and I can't describe to you how it smells. It's wonderful! To walk through there and touch the different herbs and the unique smell that each one has is amazing. I just love it!
This past summer after my dill formed it's flower head I saved all the seeds. In mid summer I scratched the surface of the dirt and planted a hand full of the dill seeds. Covered them with a little soil and slightly watered them. In a couple of weeks I had a an enormous amount of dill, I was shocked. It actually did better than the spring planting. But this is what was surprising to me. Before the first freeze, I picked a gallon zip lock bag full of the dill. It kept in my frig for 3 months. I also picked some thyme and it kept as well. I usually pick my herbs and use them that day or I will pick things like basil and parsley and stick the ends in a glass of water and they will keep a week in the frig. I was delighted to find out that these herbs would keep this long in the frig.
Just a little bit of advice. If you haven't planted dill before, it's easy to grow and doesn't take alot of special care. But you need to check it every day or every other day for the swallowtail butterfly (which is caterpillar). It will devour your dill over night. I keep them picked off but you can use bacillus thuringiensis to control them.
I feel it a waste of time to try and dry dill. It is so wonderful fresh and when it is dry it doesn't even taste the same. So I just enjoy it as long as I can while I can get it fresh.
Dill is a wonderful addition to homemade sauces, mayonnaise, and salad dressings and it also livens up cottage cheese. Try some in sour cream with a little horseradish to compliment slices of roast beef. Lemon-dill butter melted over grilled, baked or sauteed fish is exquisite! It's also great on steamed yellow squash. Boiled shrimp marinated in my dill vinaigrette then sauteed in butter and wine and garnished with fresh dill is very easy and makes an elegant presentation.
This past summer after my dill formed it's flower head I saved all the seeds. In mid summer I scratched the surface of the dirt and planted a hand full of the dill seeds. Covered them with a little soil and slightly watered them. In a couple of weeks I had a an enormous amount of dill, I was shocked. It actually did better than the spring planting. But this is what was surprising to me. Before the first freeze, I picked a gallon zip lock bag full of the dill. It kept in my frig for 3 months. I also picked some thyme and it kept as well. I usually pick my herbs and use them that day or I will pick things like basil and parsley and stick the ends in a glass of water and they will keep a week in the frig. I was delighted to find out that these herbs would keep this long in the frig.
Just a little bit of advice. If you haven't planted dill before, it's easy to grow and doesn't take alot of special care. But you need to check it every day or every other day for the swallowtail butterfly (which is caterpillar). It will devour your dill over night. I keep them picked off but you can use bacillus thuringiensis to control them.
I feel it a waste of time to try and dry dill. It is so wonderful fresh and when it is dry it doesn't even taste the same. So I just enjoy it as long as I can while I can get it fresh.
Dill is a wonderful addition to homemade sauces, mayonnaise, and salad dressings and it also livens up cottage cheese. Try some in sour cream with a little horseradish to compliment slices of roast beef. Lemon-dill butter melted over grilled, baked or sauteed fish is exquisite! It's also great on steamed yellow squash. Boiled shrimp marinated in my dill vinaigrette then sauteed in butter and wine and garnished with fresh dill is very easy and makes an elegant presentation.
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