Up until about an hour ago what I knew about fennel could be written on the head of a pin with enough room to add the Encyclopedia Britannica. I thought it was a vegetable along the lines of a kohlrabi and that’s not far wrong, but it is also regarded as an herb with both culinary and medicinal uses.

We’ll begin with the Romans (as usual) who ate the stems as a vegetable, but used it medically to treat a couple of dozen complaints, according to Pliny the Elder; the Greek physician Hippocrates was fond of recommending fennel to stimulate the production of breast milk, but mostly throughout history fennel’s best attribute has been the settling of gastric disorders including colic in babies (think “gripe water”). On occasion it has been used to fend off witches and gained a reputation for helping to curb hunger pangs in those who needed to lose a few pounds. (William Coles, 17th-century botanical writer, reported that it helped the unwieldy to become gaunt and lank!)

Some of these properties are still employed today in modern herbal medicine, especially the ones pertaining to breast milk production in nursing mothers, stomach disorders and skin disorders such as conjunctivitis.

This powerhouse cousin of celery is an excellent source of vitamin C and dietary fiber, plus packing a punch of potassium, molybdenum, manganese, copper, phosphorus, folate, calcium, pantothenic acid, magnesium, iron and niacin! Kinda makes you want to throw away all your multi-vitamins and dash out to buy fennel, doesn’t it? Well, now is a good time, as it’s best available in fall to early spring.

And what to do with it when you have purchased it? Use the base (bulb) sliced, diced, julienned, and raw or sauteed, baked, grilled or braised; use the leaves minced as an herb topping, and add the stalks to soups and stocks. The seeds should be stored in the refrigerator to maintain the maximum freshness and flavor, and that brings us to the flavor

Anise (licorice) but very mild and light it goes well with fish, stir-fry and rice. Sauteed fennel and onions makes a nice side-dish; add a slice of raw fennel to a sandwich with lettuce and tomato, and a salad of thinly sliced fennel with avocados and oranges makes a stimulating change of pace. Do I have you convinced yet?

Here’s how to make an appetite suppressing, before-meal drink: pour 1 cup of boiling water over 1 tsp. crushed fennel seeds; cover and steep for 5 minutes; strain and add a slice of orange; cool and drink.

Now, if you wish to grow your own, fennel is easy to grow from seed in well-drained sandy soil in full sun. It does not like clay soils, and requires plenty of water to swell the bulb to cooking proportions. It can grow to 6 feet tall with lovely feathery foliage and yellow flowers. The seeds are harvested in fall.

After all this research I must admit, though, the only food tasting of anise that will pass these lips is Basset’s Licorice All-Sorts, except the pimply ones – I don’t like the pimply ones

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Tina Clinefelter is a Penn State Master Gardener Volunteer with the Cooperative Extension office (570-726-0022). She received the President’s Volunteer Service Award from the Points of Light Foundation.