How to Pick Fresh Fennel

Smaller sized fennel bulbs have a sweeter taste.

Fresh fennel is a fall crop which flourishes in cool weather before the first frost occurs. Whether picking the fennel from your own yard or conducting an urban harvest at the grocery store, the criteria for choosing fennel is the same. Once harvested, use the entire, anise-flavored plant. The bulb, stalks and fronds all add a light licorice taste to savory stews, soups, salads and roasts.

Things You'll Need

• Knife

Instructions

1. Look for a tennis ball sized bulb growing above ground level or on specimens in the market. This is the swollen base of the stalks of the plant, not a true bulb.

2. Cut the base of the fennel off at the ground level.

3. Use fennel with straight, light-green or white stalks and bright, standing fronds.

4. Avoid fennel in the garden or market with limp stalks or drooping fronds. These indicate old, dried out fennel.

5. Press the sides of the bulb to test for firmness. A firm bulb indicates a better tasting fennel which has not dried out.

Tips & Warnings

• Store fennel in the refrigerator in a plastic bag for up to one week.

• Split the fennel lengthwise through the bulb and separate the stalks. Discard any bruised or discolored stalks. Chop the bulb and stalks for use raw or cooked in recipes.

References

• JHU Sustainability: Celebrate the Harvest
• Washington State Univserity Whatcom County Extension: Florence Fennel
• University of California Davis Extension: Good Life Garden Crops

Resources

• All Recipes: Fennel Recipes