D is for Dill

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This season I'm planting dill for the second time. The first time I was lucky - the dill seed came with a herb mix that was companion to some lettuce I was planting.

So I just sprinkled it on the ground and let it takes its chances. And boy, did it grow! We ate plenty of it with curries, soups, stews, salads and dips.

Preparing the soil: This year I've planted the dill to share the bed with my lettuce.

The soil is red clay mixed with  cow manure and compost.  The clay is still hard (not softened as much as I'd like), so we'll see how that works out.

Current dill seedlings growing happily

Planting: Once again, I'm just turning the soil, then inserting the dill seeds to a quarter inch deep and 18 inches apart.

Make sure that you plant in a sunny area, but that is also protected from winds, as the plants grow very big and you don't want them to keel over.

I also found out, the hard way, that it does not transplant very well, so make sure that you plant the seeds where you want them.

Also make sure that you have enough room for your plant to grow (around 12 to inches apart).

Plant care: Dill just needs me to water it on a regular basis and let it fend of itself. You may need to thin it though if you grew the seeds too closely.


Harvesting dill: You can start picking dill leaves as soon as the plant has four to five leaves. If you have a lot of plants, you can pinch off entire stalks.

You can stop harvesting when the plant starts growing flowers, but  no worries! Dill is a self-seeding herbs, so if you leave the plant there long enough, the seeds will germinate and soon you'll have fresh dill again.

Serving suggestions

One of my favourite salads is cucumber with yoghurt, feta cheese and sprinkled with dill. Basically you pick, wash and dry the dill and  cut it to remove the thin stems with delicate leaves from the thicker main stems.

Throw away the thick stems and finely chop thin stems and leaves. Slice three English cucumbers thinly, add dill to the and stir to combine. Add yogurt to the cucumber-dill mixture, stirring to coat all pieces of cucumber with yogurt. Gently fold in feta, being careful not to over-mix.

Season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper and serve immediately, before the cucumber starts releasing water and making your salad soggy.

If you know that you're not going to serve your salad immediately, you might want to slice your cucmber, sprinkle a little salt on it and then put it in the fridge overnight. Drain it the following day and them make your salad.

I love this salad with freshly baked bread, though it also goes down very well wrapped with a fresh lettuce leaf to make a sandwich.

We also use dill to make a yoghurt dip for fresh, crunchy vegetables.  I usually follow the basics of this recipe, though I use yoghurt I make as I don't have easy access to Greek yoghurt. If you use  regular storebought yoghurt, make sure you drain it first or your dip will be watery.

And finally, here are a few recipes I came across that use dill. I'm still learning how to make those I have easy ingredients for.