Dill

Meet dill, the herb that looks like green smoke and tastes of pickles, fish, potatoes and yoghurt sauces. A pot of it on a winter terrace makes a tall, fine-leaved plant within weeks, and a few snips go into whatever is on the table.

Its character is quick and a little impatient. It grows fast in cool weather, stands tall on slender hollow stems and, at the first real warmth, sends up a flower head and declines. It dislikes being moved, so it is sown where it will live, and the way to keep a supply is to sow a little every two weeks.

What it brings is fine texture and a second crop. First comes the leaf, then flat yellow flower heads, then seed. Left alone, it reseeds readily, so a single plant allowed to finish can supply next season's seedlings.

Dill is one of the quickest herbs on the Ministry's list. The UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment's Arabic planting calendar lists dill (الشبت) for field sowing in October and November, with harvest after about 45 days, and Bustan Dubai's plant guide gives October to February. That makes it a herb to sow in the first cool weeks and to keep sowing in small batches until February.

Dill grows from a taproot like a carrot (Wikipedia), and the taproot makes it difficult to transplant (Illinois Extension), so sow it where it will grow, in a deep pot or a bed. It wants full sun in moist, well-drained soil (Illinois Extension), and Wikipedia says even partial shade reduces the yield substantially, though a desert nursery guide suggests morning sun or filtered shade for dill in a hot desert climate. In Dubai that means the sunniest spot you have through winter and some afternoon shade as March warms. Bustan Dubai advises watering deeply and keeping water off the foliage.

Heat is the limit. Bustan Dubai rates dill's heat tolerance as low, and plants decline soon after they begin to flower (Illinois Extension), so sow little and often rather than all at once. Let a few plants flower if you want seed: dill reseeds readily (Illinois Extension), and the dry seed heads are dill seed for the jar. Bustan Dubai adds that UAE tap and groundwater carry dissolved salts, and advises flushing pots and beds now and then with two to three times the normal volume of water. Dill sits well beside coriander and lettuce in the cool-season bed.