Get Both Hands on Some of These!

[digitS']

Everyone enjoys a wonderful garden harvest of lovely fruits and vegetables!

Bright and beautiful!

Fragrant with promise for a special dinner with that significant other .

Luscious with goodness! Delicious and delicately nuanced with subtle flavors.

Just when you thought food couldn't be more appealing! Why deny ourselves any longer?

Food we crave!

:rainbow-sun

Steve

 

[Ridgerunner]

What's that? Celeriac?

 

[so lucky]

Uh, Steve?.....what ever those are, I don't believe I have ever craved any......Unless they are chocolate plants.

 

[digitS']

Yep, celeriac!

What percentage of the North American gardens grow these things, do you suppose?

I luv 'em! That affection may alter my perception just a little but, I can't help it .

Steve

 

[Ridgerunner]

How do you grow those Steve? I tried direct planting a few years back and did not get any to sprout. My intent with it was to use it in place of celery as seasoning for soup, broth, and such. If I could figure out how to grow it, it might be worth another try.

 

[digitS']

They may require an indoor start, Ridgerunner. At least, in the northern tier - I just don't know. I've grown them for about 10 years and always start them right after the peppers in the greenhouse. They grow very slowly.

Then, they take an entire season to get to the bulbing-up stage. I don't think they appreciate hot weather, at all! It is almost like it stops them in their tracks and they just sit there for weeks & weeks. Maybe they are sunbathing because they are a lovely green and certainly seem to put some starch in the right places at maturity!

I believe that an awful lot of our celery comes from the Monterey area in California. You know, Mary's part of the world! Where the weather is always perfect , the women are beautiful and the children are above average!

Whether celeriac is easier to coax into a contented life than celery, I don't know either. My attempt at growing celery years ago met with rejection. I do know that I can get a lot of tasty food from "celery root" and it is the same species as the stalk celery. Their stalks are coarse but the leaves are suitable for flavoring. Stalks are mostly like models anyway: good mostly as a suggestion of something but nothing likely beyond dieting.

Steve

 

[Ridgerunner]

Your comment on hot weather makes me wonder if they might overwinter here, maybe with a cold frame over them. Maybe indoor start in June/July, transplant to the garden in early September, and see how they do. Hot summers are a problem here. Obviously too late for this year but if I think about it, maybe something to try next year.

I like to try something new every year. This may be it for next year if I can remember in time.

 

[catjac1975]

That photo should be framed and hung! What do you use it for? Would it grow in any climate? How will you preserve it? What about pest? I sometimes grow celery and they do get some kind of boring pest.

 

[canesisters]

That photo should be framed and hung! What do you use it for? Would it grow in any climate? How will you preserve it? What about pest? I sometimes grow celery and they do get some kind of boring pest.

which are unpleasant but not nearly as destructive as the exciting pests...

<snicker>

(sorry cat, couldn't resist)

 

[digitS']

I'm not interested in no boring pest! Had a little cousin like that . . :/.

I can't think of a thing that has bothered them. I don't pay a lot of attention to them most of the season. Hmmm, not even nematode damage that I can think of.

My favorite way to use them is mash them up with potatoes! They really go well with the spuds and can go in stew or soup or a casserole. Cook in about the same time. You know where you might be happy to have the flavor of celery? Now, you'd have something starchy with that flavor. Potato cakes are special.

Some folks grate raw celeriac into a salad. I imagine that is just fine but I'm not real salad adventuresome.

Steve