Next Up! Celeriac

Yes it is 6am and I am up playing in the mud. Still -10c this morning but double digit temperatures are forecast for next week.

So next out of the seed bag is something new and unusual to most of us. Celeriac. Yes it is a member of the celery family with a celery like taste. Used boiled, mashed or cut into cubes for stews or soup. Sometimes called knob celery it is a root vegetable. Check out the link on this blog that will give you info on "What To Do With This Stuff".

It is a tad ugly in looks and requires a very long growing season so I may be a bit optimistic but I thought it worth a try as apparently the roots can be stored for a longer period than celery.

The variety is called Brilliant and is seed from Hope Seeds in New Brunswick. So keep your fingers crossed and if you pray to the celery gods, mores the better!

In The Beginning There Was Celery!

Now do not let that -10c temperature get you down. Pay no attention to the blizzard like conditions I see out my kitchen window. Give no heed to the bears who are now scurrying back to their dens thinking they may have waken a tad early! Nope. These signs are simply a mask. A charade. A test of our mettle!

Well I for one thumb my nose at Mother Nature and will simply go about my business of pretending it is really Spring.

Today is Day 1. Oh the smell and the touch of soft damp potting soil. The pleasant sound of the trowel mixing the soil with the water. The feel of dirt under my fingernails! The satisfying plop as the seed trays are filled! The sound of the ambulance arriving and the men in white coats who want to put me a funny jacket. Granted it is not the bright red Lower Shinimicas mud I am playing in as it is a bag of organic potting soil, but, it felt soooo good!

So Celery is first out of the shoot and you can see the trays in the picture, delicately placed on the "official seed sprouting device" or the OSSD for technical types. ( really just a old wooden shelf in the kitchen by the heat register but for a few months it is the "OSSD")

This is my second kick at the can with celery. The variety is called Tall Utah which is organic seed from Hope Seeds. You may remember that last year the celery was short and strong in flavor. Some found it good for soups but too strong for raw eating. I was late starting it last year which accounts for the size and I did not blanch it which is why it was a deep green and not the pale stalks you see in the supermarket.

This year I am getting an early start and I am going to attempt to blanch the stalks. This means that in the last 3 weeks or so of growth I will attempt to block the light getting to the stalks by mulching them heavily or surrounding them with something to keep light off the stalks.

If any of you buy juice or milk in the 2 liter size cartons could I impose on you to save me some? Do not flatten them. I am going to try and use them to blanch the celery later in the season by using them as a sleeve right over the plant. Just the top would stick out.

Celery is considered one of the most difficult vegetables to grow sucessfully but I learned much last year and have high hopes that it will go well this year. well maybe. It took me four seasons to learn how to grow broccoli!

What Are We Growing This Year!

The seeds have arrived with the exception of the potato sets which I will pick up later in the season. It is always exciting to see all the seed packages and to think that each package contains life waiting to burst! The picture shows a few of the new seeds but I have boxes and containers of collected seed on top of the new seed.

So what is going into the bright red Lower Shinimicas mud this season? Drum roll please! Roll out the red carpet and admire this stunning line up for 2010!

Arugula- A peppery green for salads.

Beans- green, Beans- french green, Beans- French yellow (new!)

Bulls Blood Beets- The best purple beet greens ever!

Brocolokoli Brocolokolie

Red Cabbage

Carrots- Scarlet Nantes, Danvers 126, Yaya(new!)

Celery (still learning, have some ideas to improve on last years offering)

Celeriac (new!)

Corn Salad- A salad green

Cucumber (English style)

Eggplant (with luck I might even get blossoms this year!)

Kale- (just for Todd)

Kohlrabi

Lettuce- Mesculan, Lolla Rosa, Romaine, Butterheads

Melon (maybe, maybe....)

Mizuna- New oriental green!

Nasturtiums- Yummy peppery greens!

Onions (red and white)

Pak Choi (New!)

Parsnips

Peas (snow and green)

Peppers (hot and sweet)

Potatoes( red and white)

Pumpkin(small sugar for pies)

Radish

Spinach

Squash( Buttercup & Butternut)

Swiss Chard

Tatsoi(New oriental green!)

Tomatoes- Brandywine, San Marzino, Early Latah, Tribes Tobique,

Red Pear Tomato (New)

Turnip(Purple Top and standard)

Zuchini.

A few herbs- Basil, Thyme, Parsley, Lemon Balm, Tarragon, Mint, Dill

Whew. Someone is going to be very busy this Spring and I have it on authority that he cannot wait to get er done!

So there you have it Ladies and Gentlemen a star studded cast for your munching pleasure. I accept this award on behalf of all the little people who live in my soil and do so much for so much goooood taste!