Culinary Dill
Anethum Graveolens

days to maturity: 40 days
plant spacing: 4 plants per square foot
sunlight requirements: 6-14 hours
look out for: aphids on new growth
harvest notes: harvest outer leaves as needed or whole bunch as “cut and come again”
seasons: fall, winter, spring
annual

Pickles, salad dressing, seafood, potatoes, and cucumbers: these are just a few of dill’s culinary dance partners, making it a favorite in the herb garden. It’s flavor is never better than when you pick it fresh from your garden. Another good reason to grow this graceful plant: The umbel of delicate yellow-green flowers attracts beneficial insects, from pest-eating wasps to colorful butterflies and once they’re pollinated they'll produce you dill seed, either for use in the kitchen or for planting next season. Dill in home gardens rarely has pest or disease problems, but black swallowtail butterfly larvae depend on dill as a food source. If they show up in your garden, you can concentrate the caterpillars on a few plants, and reap a double bounty - dill and butterflies! For a continual source of dill throughout the season we recommend having at least 2 plants and replanting them every 6 weeks or so through spring.