Caraway is a biennial. The first year the plant produces just foliage and develops a long tap-root. As the weather warms during its second year of growth, the plant quickly spurts into maturity, flowering and setting seed.

It grows best in full sun with fertile soil which drains well. As with some of the other hardy biennials, if you leave the seeds in place, caraway will self-sow and start the process again the following year.

If you have room in your garden, it's rather nice to keep a stand of caraway. Just sow the seeds for two years in a row to enjoy both the foliage and seeds in the same year.

  USES OF CARAWAY:

Seed:

Everyone is familiar with caraway seed in rye bread. But it is also delicious in pork, eggs, cheese, beets, cabbage, sauerkraut, potatoes, zucchini, codfish and many other dishes.

Leaves:

While not commonly used, the leaves provide a pleasant yet mild flavor of caraway that is nice in salads and soup. Also delicious with fresh vegetables.

Roots:

May be used just as you would parsnips, they have a caraway like flavor which is quite interesting.

Warm Carrot Salad with Caraway Dressing
Recipe Courtesy of Gourmet Magazine

Ingredients

1 pound baby carrots, trimmed and peeled
1 teaspoon toasted caraway seeds
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Arrange carrots in a steamer and steam over boiling water, covered, until tender, 8 to 10 minutes.

While carrots are steaming, in a bowl, whisk together caraway seeds, vinegar, oil, pepper, and salt to taste until dressing is emulsified. Add hot carrots and toss to combine.

Serves 4.