Dill Herb: A Dill-lectably Healthful Additive To Your Garden

It’s just wonderful to know that some plants in our garden aren’t just for our viewing pleasure, and the dill herb is just one of them. Aside from adding that extra zest in our salads, steaks and dips, this herb can be very beneficial to our health.

Dill (Anethum graveolens), is a perennial herb easily recognized for its slender stems, finely divided feathery leaves and several umbel-shaped seed heads. Its name is derived from dile in Old English as the plant was regarded to have sleep-inducing properties. This plant is an Angiosperm, and is the sole representative of its genus.

Uses

The most popular use of the dill herb is with food, and its aromatic leaves are used to add a distinctive flavor to a wide variety of foods such as pickles, soups and fish. Its seeds are a trademark ingredient to dill pickles, and together with cucumber, salt and vinegar, it creates a great mixture for appetizers. In many parts of the world, this herb has become a popular additive for numerous recipes of soups, salads, dips, cheese and egg dishes, and well complements potatoes.

But apart from these, did you know that the dill herb is also beneficial to our health? According to Zheng et. al., the oil derived from this plant has constituents that promote detoxification of drugs, slows down cell aging, and protects cells from free radicals - chemicals that induce cancer. A clinical trial conducted at the Mashhad University of Medical Sciences is also currently exploring the effect of dill seeds on the patterns of uterine contractions for women giving birth, and it aims to establish if dill indeed helps in shortening labor periods.

Cultivation and Harvesting

Growing the dill herb is easy! The plant generally requires a warm environment (which we always have in the Philippines), and lots of sunlight. Make sure that you plant it in a sunny area, as shade sometimes decreases its yield, and plant it on well-drained, rich soil. Dill is a self-seeder, which can be both an advantage and disadvantage. Although it needs little maintenance and can easily propagate, the plant may uncontrollably invade the other areas of your garden, competing with your other plants for sunlight and nutrients, so it’s also advisable to regulate its growth.

The stems can readily be picked and prepared for your favorite dishes, and any excess portions can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. If you want to harvest the seeds, cut the flower heads off the stalks as the seeds begin to ripen. The flower heads should be placed upside down inside a paper bag, so that the seeds will be released as the flowers dry out while inside the bag. Once the flower heads become dry, you just have to shake it a little to have the seeds fall off the bag, and you can readily store them in an airtight container.

Why buy dill at your local supermarket, when you can have them fresh and at their prime dill-ectability from your backyard? And if you want to start growing the dill herb, better get it at wholesale prices! Click here for more info.

Link:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92774/