About The River

Monday, September 7, 2015

Growing Celery ~ With How To Photos

 This year was my first year to try growing celery.
Looking at the photo above, you would think, how on earth is that celery going to look like the celery I purchase at the store?
The trick is the following.
Once the celery is tall enough, you will wrap a paper bag around the plant, leaving the topmost foliage exposed. Tie the paper in place with twine. 
What we are doing is blanching the celery.
Blanching is accomplished by excluding light over a period of time while the plants continue growing.
You do need to check the progress of the blanching, celery is susceptible to rot.
Once you have stalks that have reached a light greenish yellow color, the plant is ready to harvest.
I used paper bags that I get from our local grocery store. I cut them to size to wrap around the celery and tied using twine. I tied the bags just snug. I did not want the bag to be tight around the celery.

I froze some of my celery for soup. 
We ate some fresh and I tossed some in potato salad and chicken salad.
Everyone thought it tasted great.

22 comments:

  1. I have tried planting this a few times but the based rotted

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well, I learned something here today! Thanks, Carla! xo Diana

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you for sharing this! I have no idea why, but I have never considered freezing celery before. How strange. Sometimes we can't finish up the grocery store celery, I need to freeze it.... Less waste!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I don't think I've ever seen celery growing in a garden! I live in the south. I wonder if it grows well here.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think you did wonderfully well growing your celery, and it looks fantastic - bet it tastes great too!

    Have a good week.

    All the best Jan

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think you did wonderfully well growing your celery, and it looks fantastic - bet it tastes great too!

    Have a good week.

    All the best Jan

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am still so impressed and had never seen celery grown until you shared this last month! I know it tastes so much better than store-bought!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. How awesome. I never tried to grow celery. You made it look easy. Hope you had a wonderful Labor Day weekend!. Janice

    ReplyDelete
  9. I grew celery once but didn't bothered to blanch them with wraps. They were fresh tasting and lasted much longer then the store bought one but I had too much so now I just buy them when I need some. I think I just hilled the soil around them.
    Hugs,
    JB

    ReplyDelete
  10. Now I know why the Dutch call it Bleek Selderij ( bleach celery). Thanks for teaching me something new after almost fourty years of eating "bleach celery." Wonder if I can grow it down here in southwest Louisiana? Linda@Wetcreek Blog

    ReplyDelete
  11. How neat! I've grown a lot of veggies in my lifetime....but never celery. I bet it is tasty! I would want a little cheese and mayo in one! Yummy! Hugs

    ReplyDelete
  12. Looks so lovely and crunchy!

    ReplyDelete
  13. This is so informative - thank you for sharing this "how to" - I just might give it a try! :)!

    ReplyDelete
  14. That's interesting. I had no idea about the blanching - not sure that's done in the UK - our celery is a kind of light green.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I never tried growing celery. Thanks for the tip. Hope you had an enjoyable Labor Day weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wow Carla this is really neat. I have never known anyone to grow celery before in their garden. Have a great new week ahead.
    Kris

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wow, I always wondered what celery looks like planted in the garden. I saw our first onions and garlic in the garden last week, and put them on my baked chicken. You really put care into growing your vegetables, Carla.

    Have a nice week.

    ~Sheri

    ReplyDelete
  18. Your celery looks great! Never knew that it had to be blanched. I wonder if you could grow it without blanching it.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Looking good. I'm a big fan of celery for all its uses....:)

    ReplyDelete
  20. I would never have know that this is necessary. You are a very devoted gardener. I bet it tastes great! :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Good grief, you are brilliant. I never even thought of growing celery here. Amazing!! Considering how much celery I use, I should try it next year!

    ReplyDelete

High Fives from Wisconsin!