About Seed Dill (Anethum graveolens)
[There is a separate page on leaf dill (dill weed).]
Dill is, we think, one of the great herbs, and is sadly underappreciated and underused in
the U.S. Dill is grown for both its dried seeds and its ferny leaf; though the same plant
can be used for both purposes, cultivars aimed at one or the other particular use have been
bred, so one is best off using different plants, of different cultivars, for the two
purposes. This page deals only with growing dill for seed.
Cultivars
The varieties Bouquet, Fernleaf, and Long Island Mammoth are cultivars
for those who want dill seed. Though there is no unequivocal trend to any one, the kind
Bouquet seems to be the dill-seed standard, and will be our choice this year.
Planting
Timing
Dill is in commercial field production in the Canadian prairies, so we should have no
trouble growing it hereabouts. The usual advice is "spring", sometimes given as "April".
But because we want the soil already warm when we plant out, around here early to middle
May might work best.
The Bed
The general rule for herb and spice plants is that their soil needs are not demanding, save
that the soil must be very well-drained: few herb or spice plants can stand "wet feet".
The soil should not be particularly rich, most especially not for flavoring plants we
grow for their seed (or fruit), common mis-advice to the contrary notwithstanding: a rich
soil will lower the concentration of the "aromatic oils" that give the seed its
characteristic flavor, which is the very thing we are growing them for. Plants that are
slightly nutrient-stressed (which doesn't mean starved) give better-tasting seed.
Dill is typical of the remarks above. It is apparently crucial to not plant dill
anywhere near fennel (or vice versa), lest the two cross pollinate and give bizarre crops.
(Indeed, fennel is not a good neighbor to much of anything, and is always best grown
somewhere off in a garden corner.)
Planting Out
Direct-seed dill where you want it to grow. Plant dill seed very shallow, or put it on the
surface and sift a little sand or fine soil over it. Water well. Be patient: dill seed
can take up to 25 days to germinate, though it is more like 2 weeks when the soil is
satisfactorily warm at planting time.
Growing
When dill plants first flower, they will benefit from a light sprinkling of a fertilizer
high in potassium and phosphorus.
Plants are typically cut for harvest when they reach about 12 inches in height. Hang cut
plants to dry over a catch-cloth; when they are thoroughly dry (and the seed has turned
from green to brown), dump them into a holding bag (which you will later use for threshing
them).
When your seeeds are thoroughly dried, thresh the lot: beat the holding bag in which you
have collected them against a hard surface to dislodge the seeds. Sift the loose seeds
through a 3-inch mesh hardware cloth to remove the chaff. Make absolutely,
positively sure the seeds are thoroughly dried before putting them away for storage
(in the usual manner for dried herbs and spices: an airtight container stored in a dark
place, preferably a cool one).
It is said to be a common practice is to "barber" dill seeds to remove the hair-like
strand or whisker found at one end, but in just what this "barbering" consists is not
stated in any source we saw.
Relevant Links
Besides any links presented above on this page, the following ought to be especially helpful.
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Dill -
from Gernot Katzer's immensely valuable Spice Dictionary
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Dill -
an informative page from the Saskatchewan Herb and Spice Association's "Herbs for the
Prairies" site
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Plants For a Future Database: Dill -
lots of data on the plant, and links to yet more
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