Caraway belongs to the great carrot family, that useful and sometimes bewildering clan of umbellate herbs that includes dill, fennel, and parsley. Native across a wide arc from western Asia through Europe and into North Africa, it has been cultivated for so long that the line between wild and domestic blurs comfortably. Biennial by nature, it spends its first year producing a rosette of finely divided, ferny leaves and a deep taproot, then in its second year throws up flowering stems of 1 to 2 feet, crowned in summer with flat-topped clusters of small white to pink-tinged flowers that attract pollinators and, usefully, parasitic wasps that prey on aphids.

Every part of the plant has a role. The compound leaves go into salads, teas, stews, and soups. The seeds — technically fruits — are the familiar caraway of rye bread and sauerkraut, rich in aromatic oils and more potent when grown in full sun. First-year roots are edible and can be cooked like parsnip. Because the deep taproot dislikes disturbance, caraway is best sown in situ and left to self-sow freely once established; it manages this admirably in suitable conditions. It is a generous companion plant for most vegetables, though it prefers to keep its distance from fennel and wormwood. Patient, practical, and quietly indispensable.