splayed celery

 hello,

i put in some celery a while ago (which has proved to be one of the easiest
things i've ever grown - highly recommended!) however, i rather assumed
celery grows up tall like they look in the shops <g>, but mine is all
splayed out.

does anyone know if i'm actually supposed to tie up the bunches while in the
ground, or something? i've got a biggish crop in & they're already out of
room (dh has been thinning them out & eating them, they're about 1/2 grown)
so i'm not sure what to do next, or if it's all actually fine & i don't need
to do anything.

as usual ta for any tips!!!
kylie

 G'day Kylie

While I haven't grown celery for ages my old grandfather taught me many
moons ago to plant the celery in a trench, then when it starts to grow,
tie a full newspaper (or cardboard) around the plant with twine and
backfill the trench.  This makes the plant grow tall (to reach the
light) and keeps the celery stalks bunched and light in colour.  When
the bunch is almost mature you can remove the newspaper and the outer
stalks will green up in a day or so ready to pick.

Unsupported as you've done is still Ok, but the plants won't bunch as
you normally see them in the supermarket.

Maybe other people have different ways of doing it but this worked for me.

Bronwyn ;-)



0tterbot wrote:

 
thanks bronwyn!

i got so far as putting them in trenches (on the advice of some book or
other) so i think i will wrap most of them & see how they go! (i don't want
to wrap them all - as i said dh is getting into them so i wouldn't want to
deny him anything <g>). what you have said sounds like the solution! thanks.
kylie

 
Congratulations, celery is fun to grow. There is no need to try and get it
like the stuff you see in the shops. Feed it well and give it plenty of
water and you can just keep picking off a few sticks every day while it's
young and tender and still small and you will have fresh celery for a whole
year off those plants. The young really green stalks have a lot more flavour
than the bland stuff from the supermarket. Keep breaking the older stalks
off so that new ones keep appearing. Nurse them through winter and they'll
be good for another year! New plants ('pups') will appear on the side and
you can break these off when they reach advanced seedling size and have
developed a good root system and plant them instead of buying new seedlings
from the store. You need never buy another celery seedling again!

I'd say celery is 4th on the list of most satisfying food plants to grow,
next only to tomatoes, spuds, and zucchini.


Just do nothing more and enjoy it, particularly in winter stews and as a
steamed green with white sauce.

Have you tried eating the young leaves, too? If not too strongly flavoured
for your liking, cut them up as a salad green.
--
John Savage                   (my news address is not valid for email)