Celery - Recycle Roots, Grow, cut-and-come-again, Use!

Dear Folks,

Celery is one of my favorite vegetables.

FYI - It is a winter vegetable here in the valley so save this post for the fall when you can sow seeds and/or re-start the root from a store/farm bought batch. 

I want to discuss not only sowing seeds (and the plants will re-seed if you let them) but also taking advantage of store/farm bought celery bunches.

When I do not have enough celery from the garden (right now I am 'awash' in it and will have to start freezing and drying some) I buy organic (or if not available - non-organic) celery bunches and cut off the bottom 2 inches to soak in water.

You need good light to help them grow well - our kitchen under cabinet florescent is always on during the day, so I get nice healthy starts.

TIP:  After you cut the bottom off - pull of the outer stalks to expose more of the root, then soak in water just to cover the root area - do not let it dry out.  Within a few days you will see the center begin to grow.  I like to wait to plant out when there is some good leaves showing, like the picture.  You may even have roots growing out of the base but do not worry if there are none yet.  Just plant in a spot where it will get good sun.  If you have a good growing area set up in the house you can make it a house plant and harvest stems as you need by cutting the OUTER leaves/stalks first, since it grows from the center out.

The picture at the top of this post is another root ready to plant AND look-at-the-size and lush growth on the cut celery!  THAT was a recycle root I planted about January 1st and harvested March 31 - 3 months to a gorgeous and harvest ready vegetable.  Yes, I could have harvested along the way, but honestly I had been harvesting celery from another area and did not pay attention to this one.

WHY grow celery?  Although I use a lot of celery - how many of you had a bunch go bad before you could use it all?  Hopefully you tossed in your compost pile, but the point is growing your own celery means you go out and harvest 1, 2, 3 stalks when you need them and the plant keeps growing to give you more.  Another version of cut-and-come-again food from the garden.

RedVenture Celery

I mentioned sowing seeds.  A number of years ago I discovered "Redventure" celery - a burgundy-colored stalk with a stronger flavor than the green.  "Red" has re-seeded in my gardens for a number of years and now the recycled root green varieties also have re-seeded in the garden.  I am a happy gardener!  Free seed AND each year's growth is healthier due to "regional adaptation" where subsequent generations of self-seeding produces more local-adapted produce.

Two recipe ideas using celery.

The first one is a mix of celery with my other harvests from my greens/herbs bed.

Potato, Egg and Greens Salad.

Portions are whatever you have on hand

Small red potatoes cut into big size pieces (cleaned but not peeled).
2 hard boiled eggs - I use and egg slicer to cut first one way then rotate and cut again and I get slices
About 3/4 cup of minced greens (or amount equal to the hard boiled eggs
Onion diced (I used some of my I'itoi onions in the greens)
Salt and pepper
Oil and lime juice
Optional:  Cut up cooked bacon or ham

Boil the potatoes until done but not falling apart.  Drain and put back on the burner on low for a minute or two to get the extra water off the potatoes - shake the pot a bit.

I add the oil at this point to absorb into the hot potatoes.  Since I make this a cold salad, I wait until they are cooled before adding the rest of the ingredients and gently tossing to mix.  Taste and adjust seasonings.

We are in the final 2 weeks of our asparagus harvest.  Our mature beds allow us to harvest for 6 weeks before allowing them all to go to "feathers" to feed back into the roots - I some times cheat later on if I see and brand new 6 inch shoot, cut it and eat it right there!  Fresh cut asparagus are so sweet.

Asparagus Celery Stew

Portions, again, are what you have on hand.  This is a variation of one of my "Creamy Vegetable Soups" but this time I decided to leave the roasted vegetables as a nice texture contrast to the mashed potatoes.  My "Creamy" soups container no dairy but cheese is optional and I usually use cheese because I love it.  The "creamy" texture comes from puree of potatoes or similar starchy vegetable.

Asparagus, snapped at tender point and cut into small pieces
Celery, leaves and stalk cut into small pieces
Potatoes (I used small red with peel left on - I cut out any odd spots)
Onion, slivered
Salt and Pepper
Optional:
Parmesan Cheese
Chopped bacon

Preheat oven to 450 and prepare a pan with aluminum oil.
In the pot you will boil the potatoes in, place a bit of fat (I usually mix a bit of uncured bacon grease with avocado oil), and warm up to melt.
Place the asparagus and celery in the pot and toss to coat.  Pour them onto the prepared pan and spread out. Season with Salt and Pepper. (do not wipe out the pot)
Bring water or broth to boil in the pot.
Roast for about 15 minutes total, tossing and mixing and re-spreading about halfway through.
While the veggies are roasting, bring potatoes to a boil and cook until falling apart.
Once the veggies and potatoes are done, using a potato masher-mash potatoes in the pot.  Added roasted vegetables, stir and bring to a boil to make sure it is good and warm.
Serve in bowls with optional cheese and bacon.

I hope you try re-growing celery.  Other greens you might want to try re-growing are romaine or bok choy.

We will get through this crisis.

Be kind, be patient and share what you can and ALWAYS tend your garden.


-- Catherine, The Herb Lady

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