Wild Fennel

Out hiking today Josh and I found some fennel. It's a common trail we go on, and we've been eyeing this fennel for a while so I decided today would be the day it gets immortalized on the blog. Fennel grows all over this area. It's on a trail off of highway 35 in San Bruno (on the San Andreas Fault).

Fennel is super common in grocery stores, but wouldn't it be fun to forage for it?! Maybe some day I'll grow it in my backyard, but for now I'll just take pictures of it growing on the side of highways. Fennel is one of those awesome plants where every part of it can be used for something. The root can be roasted like Brussels sprouts. The stem can be used like celery in tuna salad and soups. The leafs can be used as an herb or garnish on fish and other veggies. Lastly the seeds can be dried and used as an herb in sausage or on fish or any meat for that matter.

When we picked the leaves (which look similar to dill) it smelled just like licorice. Sweet Fennel along with Anise is used to make absinthe. My guess is that since licorice is a digestive aid that the leafs of fennel could be chewed for the same purpose, although I haven't tried it. When my son was having gas pains as a baby, our pediatrician recommended a tiny bit of fennel tea to help his gas.

Do you know any other uses for Fennel? Please feel free to share in the comments!