Florence fennel is an attractive plant that forms a white ‘bulb’ at ground
level made up of the overlapping, swollen bases of the leaf stalks, with a
sweet, mild aniseed flavour.

Fennel grows best in warm, damp summers and is well worth the effort if
you can give it the right conditions. The key to success is to provide
regular water, never letting the soil dry out, so plants keep growing
strongly. If the plant bolts, the bulb either doesn’t for, or turns woody and
inedible. The bulbs take three or four months to mature, but you can
harvest at any size; baby bulbs can be harvested after only about six
weeks. Fennel bulbs can be eaten raw, sliced or grated into salads, or
cooked in all kinds of dishes. The young feathery leaves can also be used
as a flavouring.

To sow outdoors, sow seed 2cm
deep, in drills 30cm apart. If it is particularly cool, cover the drills with a
cloche to retain heat. Keep the soil moist, watering in dry spells, to ensure
consistent growth and prevent plants running to bolting prematurely.
Once the bulbs start to swell, mound (or earth up) soil around them to
blanch them. This produces whiter bulbs with a sweeter flavour, helps to
stabilise them and protects the bulbs from early frosts.