Celery

Celery (Apium graveolens family Umbelliferae) is native to marshy areas from Scandinavia to Algeria and Egypt and eastward to the Caucasus and into Baluchistan and parts of India.

The two main classes of celery are the green and the golden, or self-blanching. The green type with on-blanched stalks adds considerably to the appearance and flavor of both salads and casseroles and is currently more popular on American tables. This type includes Giant Pascal, Fork-hook and Utah strains. For use as a canape of raw vegetables, some cooks still prefer the golden or self-blanching type with yellowish white stalks and usually a milder, blander favor. Popular golden varieties grown are Golden Plume, Cornell 19 and Michigan Golden.

Celery seed is very small (60,000 per ounce) compared with other common vegetables, very slow to germinate (15 to 21 days) and requires a long cool growing season of 120 to 140 days to produce a crop.

Celery needs a rich, moist soil and mild, equable growing conditions without sudden cold spells or dry periods to check its growth. Muck or sandy loam soils with good fertility are ideal. These exacting conditions make celery growing by home gardeners rather difficult, especially in much of the Midwest and inland Northern areas. In coastal regions or areas near large bodies of water, the usually longer and more temperate growing conditions are more suitable for celery culture.

Because celery is such a slow growing, rather difficult crop to raise, it should not ordinarily be chosen by a beginning gardener in most areas. It is successfully produced, however, by many experienced gardeners in favorable areas who take the time and care necessary. Because of its many culinary uses from salads to casseroles to attractive canapes, it probably is well worth the effort.

Celery seed must be started very early (usually indoors) 8 to 10 weeks before spring planting time unless commercially grown transplants are available. Germination is very slow, usually 2 to 3 weeks, and can be hastened slightly by pre-soaking the seed overnight before sowing in flats 1/16 inch deep. Seed flats must be kept moist and covered at 60 to 70 F temperature until the sprouts appear.

Celery display in a garden.

At this stage, they should be uncovered immediately and moved to direct sunlight and a slightly cooler situation. Seedlings must be transplanted or thinned so that developing plants are 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart and kept in full sunlight until frost-free planting time. The young plants then can be hardened off outdoors, and set in the garden, spacing them 6 to 10 inches apart in rows 2 feet apart.

For ordinary usage, figure on a half-dozen plants per adult in family. Harvest by cutting at base of stalk with a sharp knife. The usual harvest span is from the stage when the stalk is two-thirds of full size until fully would be about a 5-10-10 ratio.

Celery requires ample and continuous soil moisture and a high fertility. If soil is not rich, fertilizer should be used. The formula depends on the individual soil type, but in most cases would be about a 5-10-10 ratio.

Celery may be attacked by leaf-eating worms and aphids (plant lice). You can control these insects with approved insecticides. Blight and mildew also may be problems; control them with an appropriate fungicide.