🌿 Caraway

Carum carvi

herbs biennial herb

☀️ Sun

full sun

💧 Water

moderate (consistent moisture during first year)

🗺️ Zones

4–10

🪴 Soil Type

well-drained, moderately fertile loam; tolerates heavier soils

🧪 Soil pH

6.0–7.0

💧 Drainage

well-drained

📏 Spacing

8–12 inches

📐 Height

12–30 inches

📅 Days to Maturity

420–450 days (biennial — leaves first year, flowers/seeds second year)

🍴 Edible Parts

🍽️ seeds (rye bread🍽️ sauerkraut🍽️ cheese🍽️ liqueurs like Kümmel and aquavit🍽️ curries🍽️ harissa)🍽️ young leaves (soups🍽️ salads🍽️ similar to dill)🍽️ roots (cooked as vegetable like parsnip)

🤝 Companions (6)

🤝 Pea

Caraway's deep taproot aerates soil for pea roots; peas fix nitrogen that caraway needs for seed production in its second year.

🤝 Strawberry

Caraway improves strawberry growth and flavor; its fine foliage doesn't shade low-growing strawberry plants.

🤝 Cabbage

Caraway deters cabbage moths with its aromatic compounds; both are cool-season crops sharing spring/fall growing windows.

🤝 Lettuce

Caraway's tall second-year growth provides beneficial shade to lettuce, delaying bolt in warm weather.

🤝 Beet

Caraway's deep roots break up soil, benefiting beet root development; caraway attracts beneficial wasps that control beet pests.

🤝 Spinach

Caraway enriches topsoil with minerals from subsoil that spinach uses; spinach benefits from caraway's light shade in warm weather.

⚠️ Keep Apart (3)

⚠️ Dill

Caraway and dill cross-pollinate, producing hybrid seeds with degraded flavor in both; must be separated by at least 100 feet.

⚠️ Fennel

Fennel is allelopathic to caraway and will stunt its growth; cross-pollination ruins caraway's essential oil profile.

⚠️ Carrot

Both are biennial umbellifers attracting the same pests (carrot flies, parsley worms); planting together doubles pest pressure.

💊 Medicinal Uses

Carminative (gas relief), antispasmodic, antimicrobial, galactagogue (promotes milk flow). Contains carvone and limonene essential oils. Used for digestive colic, infant gas ('gripe water'), IBS, and to promote lactation. Chewing caraway seeds after meals aids digestion and freshens breath. Traditional European and Ayurvedic medicine for digestive disorders.

📜 History & Traditional Uses

One of the oldest cultivated spices in Europe — found in Neolithic lake dwellings in Switzerland. Ancient Romans used caraway in bread and as a digestive. Medieval Europeans added caraway to heavy breads, cabbage dishes, and cheese (still traditional). Used in love potions and to prevent livestock from straying. Essential in German, Austrian, Scandinavian, and Eastern European cuisines. Traditional in British 'seed cake.' Dutch 'kümmel' and Scandinavian 'aquavit' are caraway-based spirits.

📝 Notes

Biennial — forms a carrot-like taproot and ferny leaves the first year, then flowers and sets seed the second. Self-seeds readily if seeds are left to drop. Attracts beneficial insects including parasitic wasps and hoverflies. Do NOT plant near fennel (cross-pollinates, ruining both flavors) or dill (cross-pollinates). Seeds must be harvested when brown but before they shatter. Young first-year taproot is edible and tastes like parsnip-celery.