Last year WS Dill, Bronze Fennel, and flat-leaf Parsley. Zillions of sprouts with Dill and parsley, only 4 sprouts with Bronze fennel (which grew into beautiful plants that are perennial so 4 is sufficient). This year WS Fernleaf Dill and both Curly and flatleaf Parsley. The Bronze fennel over-wintered fine and is up growing. The regular Dill reseeded like crazy, there are zillions out there. The parsley did not over-winter, but is starting to sprout in cups, no problem with germinating these. Dill is an early summer bloomer and dies back after going to seed, the Fennel was a very late bloomer. You might want to try successive sowings with the Dill, it could work. Last year there were over a dozen Black Swallowtail caterpillars on the Bronze Fennel, 1 on the Dill and none on the parsley (that I observed).

Has been recently answered before. The plants send out a small spray of thin stems with a tiny blossom on each tip. After the blossoms die out, the green seeds appear. Seed heads turn from tiny green seeds to tan color seeds, one per stem in the 'spray'. The fern leaves can be harvested any time UP UNTIL they start to die out, or when they turn yellow or tan color. You can use the fern type leaves any time, and the seed heads anytime as well. For seed heads I like using the softer immature green seeds, and just drop a whole seed head into each jar of dill pickles. Keep in mind that the 'spray stems are a bit tough, so they shouldn't be used as a food. In a jar of dill pickles, the seed heads are noticable as they are grouped together in a small round spray mass. Here is a link that might be useful: Photo of mature dill seed head.

If there is very little smell from the dill seed jar, they are probably very old. Most markets sell fresh dill weed in bunches, so its eay to find it in supermmarkets. Most of my dill is mammoth size and some reached a record 7 foot tall this year! Most are now producing the tan seed heads and these fall where they may and then show up as next years dill plants, all over my back yard and in cracks in the concrete. This year, my cukes took an extra month to get to maturity to bearing stage, and most of my dill is almost passed, as all the weed leaves are dead and tan color, and not very useful. I didn't plant a single dill seed this year, and had ennough of it to make at least 60 quarts of pickles, and then some. Dills are nothing without plenty of garlic added too. Straight 8 seeds are a bit tough, so its good to quarter the cukes and cut out the seed area on bigger ones. Leave the skins on as they do hold up quite well as a chopped relish.

- Dill Bread - Add dill to sauerkraut - Sliced Cucumbers in Sourcream 2 t. salt 1/4 t. Tabasco 1 T. lemon juice 2 t. chopped fresh dill 1 T. chopped chives 1 c. sour cream 3 cucumbers, chilled Combine the salt, Tabasco, lemon juice, dill and chives with the sour cream. Pare and slice the cucumbers; add them to the sour cream mixture. Chill and serve garnished with additional dill. - Cucumbers with Dill 2 lg. cucumbers Salt 1/2 c. vinegar 2 T. water 2 T. sugar Freshly ground black pepper 1 T. fresh snipped dill Peel cucumbers or score lengthwise with fork tines. Cut into very thin slices. Sprinkle lightly with salt and let stand two hours. Wash off salt. Drain. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over cucumber slices. Marinate at least one hour in refrigerator before serving. - Sour Cream and Dill Sauce 1 c. sour cream and 1 small bunch dill with stems, broken into small pieces. Put the sour cream into the container of an electric blender. Add the dill, cover and blend on high speed 20 seconds. Pour into a bowl and refrigerate. The sauce will set in a few minutes. Serve with poached fish.