~ CELERY Seed and CELERIAC Seed~
You can grow your own celery fairly easily if you don't let it dry out.
To get the traditional white stem, ideally you would earth it up or tie it up with string to stop light getting at it, but we find they are nice left to go green if you can't be bothered!
There's also the simple Cutting Celery that you can grow without any bother, and then Celeriac, which is the same family, but bred for its huge edible root rather than stem.
Sowing Information
When to sow celery? You need start it going early, under cover, and keep the seeds warm until they germinate - for example in a propagator or in your airing cupboard.
IMPORTANT - celery and celeriac seed needs light to germinate, so sow on the surface of the compost, just pressing the seeds in lightly. Keep moist until they sprout, by loosely covering with a clear plastic bag.
Golden Self-blanching Celery
A good normal celery. The upright plants are vigorous, and grow on well, needing little or no earthing up to give a nicely blanched & mild-tasting interior. The one Ben is holding in the picture was not earthed up at all, though we tied it loosely with a bit of hessian twine towards the end, and we think that it has come out really well for so little work! Some people like to pack straw around the plants to enhance the self-blanching effect further.
Stands well, ready from October.
approx 2000 seed £
'Amsterdam Cutting' Celery
Cutting celery is the same plant as normal celery, but bred for lots of leaf production rather than making thick stems. It is an easily grown and very useful garden herb, as you can just cut a few leaves when cooking.
This is a special Dutch strain chosen for dark leaves and a particularly rich flavour.
over1000 seed, organic. £
'Giant Prague' Celeriac - IMPROVED STRAIN
If you don't know it, Celeriac is a root vegetable derived from celery, but bred for its huge root ball that you eat. (Its very much like the relationship between Chard and Beetroot - they are the same plant but have been bred for very different uses.)
This is the well-known heirloom variety from Prague in what is now the Czech Republic, which has been grown for years in the UK with good results. We have a strain of seed that has been reselected in modern times for root balls that are a bit smoother.
Selected for smoother and rounder roots, so they are easier to wash and require less trimming.
400 seed £
Sowing Information
To get the best results from celeriac, water in dry periods and pull away the lower ageing leaves as the plant matures. A weekly liquid feed with homemade comfrey 'tea' or liquid manure will also help get really good sized roots - though we rarely bother to do this and still get plenty of celeriac to eat!
