Every food gardener can name a vegetable or two that simply refuses to grow for them. But you don't give up. Instead, you keep on trying to grow it, all because of a recipe.
So goes my story with bulb fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), also known as finocchio. The recipe in question was a simple guyere gratin, and I'm proud to say that ultimately, it was wonderful. Even better than fresh fennel braised in butter, if you can imagine that.
It took me three seasons to learn how to grow fennel, and but it was not me, after all. The seed packets lie.
Bulb fennel does not mature in 80 days. It takes a month (or more) longer to get a really nice bulb.
Granted, you can grow a nicely flavored two-bite baby bulb fennel in 80 days, but I did not want babies. The fennel gratin recipe that had me in its spell deserved something bigger and better, as did the next recipe in line, braised fennel with butter and balsamic vinegar.
It's a little nutty, but I know I am not the only one who grows things because I want to try a recipe in its most perfect form.
Back to the fennel. Besides the importance of waiting, I've learned these little lessons:
Bulb fennel is transplantable up to a surprisingly large size. A local organic farm keeps their plants in 2-inch pots until they are 6 inches tall, and then finishes them off in the field. The same approach works great in the garden.
Slugs love fennel. Delay spring mulching, dust the ground with diatomaceous earth, and keep your fingers crossed that slugs don't find your babies. Fortunately, plants that are stripped bare once often make a strong comeback.
