Fennel Seeds and Pink Submarines?

I literally sloshed around the gardens this morning.  The rains still pelt the hillside making it a tad bit mucky to plant so I tended the herbs.  A good many are ready to be picked and dried.  As I harvested the mint, sage, basil and fennel, I found it amusing that I was drying herbs in the rain.  Well, not exactly but still it did seem humorous!  The fennel caught my attention more than the other herbs.  The plant stands much higher than my head now and is covered with the golden heads of flowers.  I started snapping off the fennel heads to be dried.  Each one was sopping wet and had to be shaken vigorously before putting in my basket.  This is all sort of mindless work so I started staring off across the Bay.  I really would much rather be fishing..if only that weather would agree!  Then I saw it!  Pink!  Bright pink!  I saw "it" alright but was not quite sure just what I was seeing!

Two of the sixty or so fennel heads that will be dehydrated.

Pink and marine equipment just do not seem to go together at all.  Memories of the old movie, "Operation Petticoat" popped into my brain.  In case you are too young to recall the movie, memory fails you or you just never sat through two hours of a Cary Grant comedy.."Operation Petticoat" saw Cary Grant as commander of a submarine during World War II.  This was a tale of a misfit crew and too few supplies.  They wound up painting the submarine with a mix of red and white paints.  Of course, this created a lovely pink!  Needless to say, the pink submarine became the laughing stock of the Navy.  Well, of course I did not have a pink submarine in the Bay but something was definitely bright pink.  With the first break in the weather, I headed down the pier.

Across the Bay, a pink monstrosity sat next to a pier.  I am supposing that someone was having work done on their pier and this was a pile driver putting in more posts.  The building of piers is a natural sight around here but having that work done by a flamingo-hued machine is a bit rare!  I mused that perhaps whoever owned the brightly painted machine had the same problem that Rear Admiral Sherman (Cary Grant's role) met with the lack of paint.  Surely someone did not intentionally paint their machine this color!  Then, again, maybe they did..at least they would never misplace it!  I stood staring at the pink pile driver until the rains came again and chased me back to the house.  Once inside, I shook my head..a pink pile driver!  Poor Cary Grant and his pink submarine.  Later this evening when the sun did peek out for about five minutes, I rushed down to the pier again.  Yep, that pink thing was still there!  I snapped a picture..just for the record!

My Outdoor Aromatherapy!

The culinary and medicinal usage of herbs is something that has long interested me.  I find that food flavored with fresh herbs is much tastier than when using the dried herbs found on the grocer's shelf.  Also, homegrown herbs seem to be tad more potent when used in a healing way.   I want to have a huge herb garden!  My aim in this is a tad lacking in reality as my garden thus far is not nearly as large as I wish it to be.  There are still lots of herbs that would prove most helpful if I could only find the space to plant them!  For now, however, I will be happy with those that are flourishing in the small allotted area. Some day..some day..my herb garden will be large and overflowing with the most delightful smelling herbs around!  One of my favorite herbs is Florence Fennel.  Not only does this provide me with the seeds that I use in teas but, also, with greens and roots!  The root of the Florence Fennel is a wide "hand-shaped" thing that is most tasty stir fried and tossed with other vegetables or roasted with a bit of olive oil and then sprinkled with balsamic vinegar and fresh basil.  My daughter was the one that introduced me to the usage of Fennel Root.  As for the greens, I snip the tender ones to be dried and then use them as I would Dill Weed.

While out and about this morning, I noticed a new aroma in the air!  Sure, the Confederate Jasmine and Seven Sisters Roses are still in bloom but they are waning and I was sure this scent was not from them.  I wandered a bit..following the scent that wafted in on the soft Bay breeze.  That, itself, told me that my elusive, aromatic plant was on the south side of the garden!  Ahh..deductive reasoning! Actually, I already knew what was filling the air with fine aroma of what reminds me of licorice or Star Anise!  While I am  not a big fan of eating licorice, I love the smell and Star Anise is an incredibly wonderful herb! Sure enough, once I followed the path to where the Fennel was growing, the aroma was delightful......and there was a squirrel..nibbling on my Fennel!!!  Arrgh!  NO!!  I shooed the squirrel away.  He can go raid the bird feeders!  To be honest, the squirrel had not done a tremendous amount of damage to the plant as I truly believe he was more trying to dig up an acorn that was buried last fall.  The Fennel plant multiplied and covered up said acorn!  No gnaw marks were actually on the plant but digging had taken place near the root.  At this point, I noticed that the Fennel plant was huge!  It was higher than my head!  The yellow blooms that would soon turn to the coveted seeds swayed above me like some tall umbrella!  No wonder the yard smelled so good!

~Just as an added note which might come in handy during the warmer months.  The aromatic Fennel is said to be highly disliked by fleas!  Powder made from dried Fennel plant can be scattered about in stables and pet areas to rid them of the pesky (and harmful) critters.  I wish I would have known this a few years ago when we were fostering the pup, Sunny!  As with so many strays and rescued dogs, she was infested with fleas.  The rescuers, Elizabeth and Robbie, fought the critters and thought they had won the battle.  When it came time for Sunny to stay with us for a while, the fleas came back with a vengeance!  The ones she had and ones from the surrounding wooded area, wreaked havoc on our place for a few weeks.  Only a strict regimen of baths for the dogs and spraying with chemicals (much to my disgust!) rid the place of the pests.  Had I known then about the Fennel, I could have placed parts of the plants in the dogs' bedding.  Sure..Sunny and Ms. Ez would have smelled like black jelly beans but that would have been much nicer than the chemical smell!~

Healing Fennel!

As the summer garden has started to wane with the onset of a sudden cold spell, I have been trying my best to pick most of the seeds from the dying plants.  A few of the seeds will be saved for next spring's garden but most will be used in culinary attempts and herbal remedies.  One of my favorite seeds to save each year is from the Fennel plant.  This is one of those really neat plants to have in the garden as you can use most every part!  Also, if you leave just part of the root, it will keep growing year to year.  I have some of my original Fennels still growing from several years ago!  The Fennel seed is such an aromatic tidbit.  It smells mightily of licorice!  This aroma would account on why years ago, a few Fennel seeds were chewed after meals.  It would freshen the breath and help with all around dental care.  The seeds are great for digestion and is safe to use by both humans and animals.  There are no side effects that seem to bother anyone!

Personally, I find that a nice cup of Fennel/green tea relaxes me after a particularly busy day.  A mere half teaspoonful of fennel seeds steeped in a cup of green tea makes for quite the delightful bedtime drink.  This seed is also highly useful in treating a cold or the flu.  When brewed in conjunction with Star Anise, Ginger root and Cinnamon, the Fennel seed brew can help to loosen the congestion and ease coughs.  To combat sore throats, steep Fennel seed and a sliced lemon in water.  Once the mixture has cooled to lukewarm, strain and use as a gargle.  The Fennel seed has a soothing effect and the citrus is quite healing.

I hate to see my herb garden starting to falter but with the stockpile of seeds and dried leaves, I should be ready for all of the winter woes.  The Holy Basil, Sweet Basil, Ginger, Dill, Mint, Chives and Fennel  all did well in the new herb garden and the roots of these should overwinter under a hefty layer of mulch.  Bring on the cool weather!  My herbs are ready!

By any other name....

Fennel is one of the most useful plants on my whole group of medicinal herbs list. Fennel Seeds are unbelievably helpful when combating a cold, flu or allergies. These same seeds relieve heartburn, aid in digestion and help relieve colic in infants. The Fennel Root has proved to be remarkable in its ability to improve vision! I use Fennel often in my herbal remedies and include the leaves and roots in the diet. With all of the positive aspects of this herb, there comes also the wonderful aroma! Fennel smells like licorice! Not some nasty black jellybean licorice but true old-fashioned, candy-jar licorice! Yep..Fennel is definitely one of my favorite herbs!

Then there is Dog Fennel. Not to be confused with the herb that is used in the kitchen, Dog Fennel is found in just about every field, ditch and empty lot in the entire Southeast! It does resemble the edible Fennel but oh, my goodness! That smell! The smell is not particularly bad just strong. There is no licorice smell to this plant! To me, it carries an odor of rancid green tea. (Although to be honest, I have never smelled rancid green tea..that is just what came to mind when I crushed a few of the leaves!)

I was out back behind the peach orchard when I accidentally rubbed against a tall Dog Fennel. The almost breath-consuming stench wafted around me causing even Ezzy, the dog, to sidestep the plant. Phew! She was not having anything to do with a plant that smells so potent! This caused me to start pondering if there was any known use for this plant. I never remember the cattle eating it back on the farm so it is obviously not used as fodder..but just what, if any, is the use of Dog Fennel. I am a firm believer that everything on Earth has some potential use if we just search for it. This evening, I searched all of my botany information on Dog Fennel..which admittedly is not a lot. I did find that all sources say that Dog Fennel is toxic if ingested, still there should be some value to this plant.

I delved further into my search. I finally found what seems to be a positive characteristic of Dog Fennel! That smell! It seems this same odor that offends the olfactory senses in humans and animals also is a problem for bugs! This herbaceous plant is a natural bug repellent! Of course as with any plant used topically, you should test it on a small area of skin before going hog-wild and slathering it all over your body but it is said to repel mosquitoes, gnats and ticks. I must try this! Living on the Bayou, there is an over-abundance of biting bugs and this plant might actually become one of my favorite weeds...ummm...herbs!