Dill

Origin & history

Dill comes from western Asia and the eastern Mediterranean and is among the oldest spice plants of all; it reached Central Europe by way of the Romans and later the monastery gardens. Its culinary map is striking: in Scandinavia, Poland and Russia dill is the herb, whereas in Italy and Spain it plays almost no part. Its old German name “Gurkenkraut” — cucumber herb — gives away its chief role here: what traditionally goes into the preserving jar is not the fine foliage but the half-ripe flower head.

Varieties

There are two breeding directions, and the packet unfortunately does not always say which. Leaf-dill varieties such as “Tetra” or “Dukat” stay bushy, keep pushing out side shoots and bolt late; types grown for the seed head such as “Mammut” or “Bouquet” flower quickly and form large umbels. If you want leaf dill all summer, look specifically for “blühfaul” (slow to bolt) or “Blattdill” on the packet — the cheap packet without a variety name is usually the fast-flowering kind.

Care

Dill is hardly any work, but it asks for two things: a drill kept evenly moist until the seedlings appear — which can take two to three weeks — and then thinning to about ten centimetres, because plants standing too close stay spindly and go over in the first thunderstorm. Do not feed it: on freshly manured ground it grows soft and short on flavour. Rather than sowing a whole packet at once, sow a short row every three or four weeks; that gives you tender foliage continuously instead of far too much once and nothing afterwards.

What can go wrong

On heavy, cold soil dill comes up patchily, and individual plants later collapse at the base — light, warm, free-draining soil and thin sowing are the answer to that. Like all umbellifers it is incompatible with itself and with carrot, parsley, celery and fennel; leave three to four years before that bed sees any of them again. Aphids like to gather on the umbels — pinching off the affected shoot tip is usually enough. The strikingly green-and-black banded caterpillars, though, should be left alone: that is the swallowtail, specially protected in Germany, and the plant copes easily with a few nibbled leaflets.

Harvest, storage & kitchen

Leaf dill is cut whole shoot by whole shoot and goes onto the dish only after cooking — heated, nothing of the aroma remains. For pickled gherkins cut the head once the seeds have formed but are still green; that is the most aromatic moment. Let it ripen on until the fruits turn brown and you have dill seed for bread or coleslaw — hang those heads upside down in a paper bag, or half the crop trickles back into the bed. Fresh foliage dries badly but freezes well, chopped into portions.

Frequently asked questions

How long does dill take to germinate?

Two to three weeks, longer in cold soil — below ten degrees of soil temperature almost nothing happens. Dill germinates in the dark and wants a good centimetre of cover. A sowing in early April therefore takes far longer than one in late May into warm ground.

When can I first harvest dill?

About six to eight weeks after sowing, from early June at the earliest, once the plant stands around 20 centimetres tall. Leaf picking runs to the end of September. Wait until a young plant has five or six fronds, or it struggles to come back.

Why does my dill flower so quickly?

Long days and dry heat push it into flower, often as early as June — you cannot switch that off, only work around it. A stand thinned to ten centimetres that never dries out stays leafy longer, and late sowings bolt more slowly. You may sow up to 10 August.

Is dill winter hardy?

No. It shrugs off a light autumn night frost, but as an annual it does not see out the winter: after the first hard frost the foliage collapses. Sow again from 1 April, though seed goes into warm ground far more evenly.