Natural Healers- Fennel

   Fennel grows wild in Europe and is naturalised in the USA, and while it looks like a larger version of its relative, dill, it has a distinct aniseed flavour. The ancient Greeks used it as a slimming aid, and for treating at least twenty illnesses. The Romans ate the leaf, seed and root in salads. In the Middle Ages, it was used to keep insects at bay.
  There are three main varieties- Garden or Common Fennel, Bronze Fennel, and Florence Fennel (the one with the bulb. I tell you this now, as one of my colleagues bought some fennel for her garden and wanted to know how long it would take for it to swell. Unfortunately, she  had planted Garden, not Florence Fennel).
  Fennel is fairly easy to grow and will self seed, so keep an eye on it. It likes a warm, sunny space, though it cheerfully grows all over my allotment, which though sunny, is more than often not so warm. Garden Fennel  plants can get quite big if you let them.
 Florence Fennel needs more attention, in the form of more frequent watering. When the stem bases starts to swell, draw the soil around them, as you would for potatoes.
 The bronze variety is quite attractive, but there is no difference other than colour between it and the green variety, as far as I am aware.
 Fennel is renowned as a stomach soother, encouraging healthy digestion and easing stomach cramps. It can also be used to alleviate coughs and colds, when made into a syrup. It can help bring hormonal balance to females of all ages, and can relieve water-retention and bloating. It has also long been used as an appetite suppressant. It is generally the seeds that are used in remedies, a teaspoon into a cup of boiling water, then strained.
  Other uses include the leaf and seed in facial steams, and the tea can be mixed with honey to make an anti-ageing face pack. No, I haven't tried it. Can't you tell?
  Fennel is an additional seasoning for meats and fish, as well as serving as part of a vegetable and salad dressing. The leaves and chopped young stems can be used in a salad, and Florence Fennel (the bulb one, remember?) can be eaten either raw or cooked.
  The plant produces seeds via small yellow flowers, which insects love,

particularly hoverflies- which help control white-fly. On my allotment, ladybirds (a gardener's friend) over-winter on the plants. It can also be used as a companion plant for onions and carrots as it's strong scent masks theirs.
  One word of warning, before you all rush out to your garden centre- if taken in large doses, the essence of Fennel can cause convulsions and disturb the nervous system. In moderation, my dear friends, in moderation.