Caraway is forever grown for its thin, crescent-shaped seeds alternatively all parts of the caraway plant are fit to be eaten—leaves, stems, seeds, and roots. Caraway is a biennial that produces carrot-like leaves the principle 365 days and flower heads and seeds the second 365 days. The flavor of caraway leaves and seeds is earthy, with a slightly of citrus and pepper.
This is all of the data to emerging caraway.
Where to Plant Caraway
- Best possible imaginable location: Plant caraway in entire sun; it will tolerate partial color.
- Soil preparation: Caraway grows best possible in well-drained sandy soil. It prefers a soil pH of 6.0 to 7.0. Add aged compost to planting beds upfront of planting. Caraway will increase in reasonable soil as successfully.
When to Plant Caraway
- Seed starting indoors: Sow caraway indoors in biodegradable peat pots or cell packs 3 to 4 weeks quicker than the everyday closing frost for transplanting out every pot and plant later. Press seed into the potting soil ground and cover calmly with vermiculite. Seed germinates in 4 to 14 days.
- Transplanting to the garden: Set caraway seedlings throughout the garden shortly after the rest spring frost.
- Outdoor planting time: Sow caraway outdoors in spring or autumn. For an early get began, sow caraway in spring as early since the soil may also be worked, regarding the date of the everyday closing frost. Sow seed shallowly. Seeds sown in spring isn’t going to supply plant existence or seeds until the second summer season. You are able to moreover sow seeds in autumn for germination the next spring.
Simple Plant Caraway
- Planting depth: Sow caraway seed ¼ inch deep.
- Spacing: Area vegetation 8 inches apart. Thin a success vegetation from 12 to 18 inches apart when seedlings are about 4 inches tall. Area rows 18 to 24 inches apart.
- How so much to plant: Increase 6 caraway vegetation for cooking; increase 12 vegetation for maintaining.
Caraway Important different Plants
- Important different vegetation: Caraway grows successfully with most vegetables. It does not increase successfully as regards to sweet fennel. This is a superb partner to peas. Caraway plant existence attract advisable insects along side predatory wasps that attack tomato hornworms.
Watering and Feeding Caraway
- Watering: Caraway requires not unusual, even watering until established. Do not allow seedlings to dry out. Once established, caraway can move on the subject of dry between waterings. Prevent watering when plant existence begin to form; this will likely encourage seeds to mature additional in short.
- Feeding: Fertilize caraway calmly when seedlings are 3 inches tall and over again when flower shoots appear. Give caraway a side dressing of aged compost at midseason.
Caraway Care and Maintenance
- Care: Steer clear of excessive pruning throughout the first 365 days or the plant may be weakened. In cold-winter spaces, caraway would possibly need winter protection so that you could produce plant existence and seeds the second 365 days. Pinch away plant existence in the second 365 days, and caraway will increase for every other season.
- Mulching: If the soil freezes in winter cover vegetation with leaf mildew, straw, or aged compost to protect the roots.
Container Emerging Caraway
- Container emerging: Select a container no less than 8 inches deep. Caraway has a taproot and does not increase fairly nicely in a container.
Caraway Pests and Diseases
- Caraway is a member of the carrot and parsley family and so is prone to the equivalent pests and diseases as carrots and parsley; it’s best possible to plant the ones crops transparent of each other.
- Pests: Caraway may be attacked by means of parsley caterpillars and aphids. Handpick caterpillars off the plant and drop them in a can of soapy water. You are able to moreover spray caterpillars with Bacillus thuringiensis. Knock aphids off vegetation with a steady glide of water.
- Diseases: Aster yellows virus can attack caraway and explanation why plant existence to lose their color and turn into malformed. Aster yellows virus is spread by means of leafhoppers. Control leafhoppers with neem oil.
Simple Harvest Caraway
- When to harvest: Snip caraway leaves from spring onward the principle 365 days for contemporary use. Harvest seeds the second 365 days after flowering alternatively quicker than seeds fall to the ground. Decrease flower heads as seeds turn from yellowish to brown. Harvest roots as soon as flowering is done.
- Simple harvest: Allow seeds to dry out and turn brown. Place a paper bag spherical seed heads; seeds will drop into the bag as they ripen. Whole the harvest quicker than the frost.
Caraway throughout the Kitchen
- All parts of the caraway plant are fit to be eaten.
- Style and aroma: Seeds taste earthy, with a slightly of citrus and pepper.
- Leaves: Add more youthful leaves to fruit and green salads, cheeses, butter, and along with soups and stews.
- Seeds: Calmly toasted seeds can be used complete or floor to style bread, cakes, cookies, soups, sauces, stews, pork, crimson meat, vegetables, cheeses, eggs, and apples. Use seeds to style pickles, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and rye bread.
- Chew seeds to relieve indigestion.
- Roots: The taproot which seems like a white carrot is fit to be eaten. Roots are eaten as a winter vegetable very similar to parsnip—steamed or chopped into soups or stews.
Conserving and Storing Caraway
- Refrigeration: Caraway leaves are best possible used contemporary, alternatively they can be stored throughout the refrigerator for a few weeks wrapped in a damp paper towel, and situated in a plastic bag.
- Drying: Hold stems the flawed means up with seed heads in a paper bag to catch seeds as they fall. Dry seedheads in a cool place for roughly 10 days. Sift seeds by the use of a ¼-inch mesh to remove the chaff.
- Storing: Dry seeds may also be stored for plenty of months in an airtight container.
Caraway Propagation
- Seed: Caraway is easily grown from seed; it will reseed itself merely in most areas.
- Cuttings: Get began new vegetation from cuttings taken from new enlargement in summer season or fall.
Get to Know Caraway
- Botanical name and family: Carum carvi (Apiaceae —carrot family)
- Europe
- Type of plant: Caraway is a biennial herb.
- Emerging season: Summer time to fall.
- Emerging zones: Caraway grows best possible in Zones 3 to 11
- Hardiness: Caraway tolerates every cold and heat; it’s hardy to -30°
- Plant form and measurement: Caraway grows 12 to 30 inches tall and phase over again as huge. The foliage has a mounded form the principle 365 days; in the second 365 days, flowering stalks elongate to rise above the mound.
- Plants: Caraway produces umbrella-like clusters of white and pink plant existence.
- Bloom time: Caraway plant existence in spring and early summer season of the second 365 days on 2-foot stems.
- Seeds: A month or so after plant existence fade, small tasty seeds ripen and may also be accrued merely quicker than the plant begins to fade and die.
- Leaves: Caraway has glossy, shiny green, finely decrease leaves that resemble carrot leaves. Leaves increase on floppy stems from a temporary rosette. Leaves form in a mound 2 feet high the principle 365 days; leaves die to the ground throughout the fall. Leaves reappear in spring followed by means of plant existence in early summer season.
