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!