By DR. DIANE RELF

By DR. DIANE RELF

Rappahannock N*w» Contributing Writer

Every gardener could use a volunteer to help out once in a while. Gardeners especially are fond of volunteers that taste as good as some that are commonly found in the herb garden.

Parsley, caraway, and dill are three commonly used herbs that will return on their own, year after year, once you get them started in the garden.

Dill is the easiest of this trio to start. Scatter a few seeds in a bare spot in the garden and you will soon be rewarded by the light green, lacy foliage, known as dill weed. It will be followed by seed heads for use in pickling.

Plant dill in early spring and late summer for the best foliage growth; if started in summer the plants tend to flower quickly. Harvest dillweed for kitchen use by shearing the foliage. Wait until the seed heads begin to brown to gather them, and let a few heads remain to provide seed for volunteer plants next spring.

Many times the plants sown by nature will outperform the plants carefully sown by the gardener. If they start in spots where they are not welcome, you can let them grow for a few weeks before harvesting the entire plant for dillweed.

Because of its biennial nature, parsley doesn’t have quite the reputation of dill for voluntary seeding. Most gardeners remove the plants in the last garden cleanup of the season, before they have had a chance to bloom.

Start parsley by transplanting seedlings and leave the plants over winter, and in the spring you can harvest the new growth for fresh use. The plants will soon flower and set seed which will sprout in the general vicinity and provide parsley for the summer and fall.

Establish parsley in the garden by transplanting seedlings into the garden two or three weeks before the last frost of the spring. To have nice-sized seedlings at that time, sow the seed indoors 10 to 12 weeks