I raise cucumbers in my garden some years.  When I do, I make dill pickles.

Generally, I raise the dill, too.  My favorite way to use dill is in my pickle recipe.  I use the flower and leaves in the pickling.

Sadly, I had no dill this year, except for a couple of volunteers that showed up late in the summer.   However, I had frozen dill from prior years tucked away in my freezer and I put them to use in this year’s batches of pickles.   To freeze the dill I pick the leaves, flowers and seed heads and put them into a freezer bag and freeze them with no other preparation.  They can last several years.  They come in handy for years like this one, when dill is not handy at pickling time.

Dill is a refreshing scent and flavor in foods.

Another favorite way to use dill is with freshly-cooked, red potatoes from my garden.  I cook the potatoes till tender and drain them.  I add butter and snipped dill leaves into the dish and stir.  It is a treat when the first potatoes are dug.

I do not harvest all of the dill.  I like to let some seed heads mature.  Some will survive the winter and volunteer in the garden next year.

photo credit: looseends via photo pin cc