5 basics of growing and harvesting dill

Fresh, frozen or dried, the wispy, fern-like foliage and flat seeds of dill lend a tasty flavour to fish, potatoes, peas and, of course, pickles. Here are five facts to help you grow the perfect dill plants.

A fast-growing annual herb that likes cool weather, dill originated in eastern Europe and can be grown in a container or garden patch.

Dill tolerates most growing conditions and germinates readily, so it's ideal for novice gardeners or youngsters.

• Letting prolific dill self-seed will give you plenty of seedlings every year, and they're easy to move.

Too much? Just yank them out; they aren't annoyingly weedy.

Succession plantings can be made, but don't plant dill until after the danger of hard frost in spring is past — about a month before the frost-free date in your area.

In warm regions, continue to sow dill into early fall.

• Dill's fine texture and yellow blooms are pretty enough for a flower garden.

Plus, you can use the stems and blossoms in cut flower arrangements, giving your bouquets an enticing scent.

If you decide to grow dill for the mature seed heads — which make wonderful fresh or dried material for flower arrangements — allow the plants 30 centimetres of space all around.

By the time they develop mature seeds, some dill plants stand 1.2 metres tall.

• To use dill in dried arrangements, cut the flower head before the seeds turn brown and hang the seed-bearing stems upside down to dry.
• To harvest seeds for cooking, allow them to turn light brown, hang them up in small bunches and enclose them in a paper bag. After a week or so, you can knock the seeds from the stems and gather them in the bottom of the bag.