Celery - is it worth the trouble?

[muckdiva]

My daughter adores celery (loves filling the sticks with tuna or cream cheese for the novelty value) and has asked me if we will be growing some in our garden. I'd planned to grow celeriac, as I've had reasonable success with it in the past, but if we were able get any celery going, it would certainly be a 'high value' crop as we get through lots in our household!

I have some seeds which came as part of a job lot, of a celery called Tall Utah, which I believe is a self blanching variety.

Do any other grapes grow celery with success, or otherwise? I would love any advice... reading some of the other threads, it sounds like growing this as a crop may be too difficult

[smallblueplanet]

We only tried growing it once, a self-blanching variety (maybe called Golden Self-Blanching, can't quite remember). It was stringy and bitter! But it looked great mind, just like celery should. Perhaps we should have blanched it afterall? It was fairly easy to grow too, but we've never bothered again. Let us know how you get on cos I like celery too!

[Pottypotter]

We only tried growing it once, a self-blanching variety (maybe called Golden Self-Blanching, can't quite remember). It was stringy and bitter! But it looked great mind, just like celery should. Perhaps we should have blanched it afterall? It was fairly easy to grow too, but we've never bothered again. Let us know how you get on cos I like celery too!

I think I read somewhere that the self blanching ones do tend to be stringy and don't taste as good

[Alice]

I'm trying a self blanching variety this year. Still at the seedling stage , but looking good so far. I'm growing it mainly for the leaves which I love for soup. The stuff in the shops always seems to have the leaves cut off.
I'm also growing a herb called Parcel. It looks like parsley but tastes like celery, so I'll see which one is most successful and take from there next year.

[Nicos]

Never had success with celery- tends to open out and go brown for me.
So grew celeriac instead for the flavour.
I suppose it depends on the soil/weather/attention???

[JennieAtkinson]

I've been given a small tray of celery seedlings. Never grown it before but so far its looking ok. I have no idea where I am going to grow it, so thought I'd try half in the polytunnel and half outside. I understand it is self-blanching, but any advice any one can give would be GREAT!

[Two_Sheds]

I grew Golden Self-Blanching last year - bleugh! It was stringy, ropey and bitter. Definitely not worth the bother. I'm afraid I'll be buying my celery from Lidl this year

[Hazel at the Hill]

Oh dear - it looks like me and Shirlthegirl are up the twist - she's got a tray full of Golden Self-Blanching seedlings an has passed the rest of the seed pack on to me...they are in the seed tray as we speak!

[Flummery]

I'm trying a self blanching variety this year. Still at the seedling stage , but looking good so far. I'm growing it mainly for the leaves which I love for soup. The stuff in the shops always seems to have the leaves cut off.
I'm also growing a herb called Parcel. It looks like parsley but tastes like celery, so I'll see which one is most successful and take from there next year.

Have you tried lovage Alice? It's a very tall growing perennial and it tastes of celery - lots of leaves. I'm a fan.

[smallblueplanet]

Hazel why not try blanching it? It can't make it any worse - it has gained two bleugh's already!

[Alice]

Thanks for that Flummery. I've never tried it but have made a note and will keep a space for it when I come to plant my square foot bed.

Jennie, the only thing I can tell you about the self blanching celery is plant it in a block and not in rows and put straw or something round the outside edges. I think the theory is they "blanche" each other. It's the tactics I'm going for anyway.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Hazel why not try blanching it?

Depending on planting space, I'm going to put it in a block, but blanching by straw is a good idea too - Alice, I'll use straw - SS would have approved, I think!

[Paulottie]

I refer everyone to the recent Celeriac thread. I'm a real enthusiast, its much easier to get a worthwhile crop.

Why not try if you've started. I have heard that you should not believe self-blanching claims and to earth it up wrapped in paper anyway...Good luck. Mine were just mini slug hotels with thin stalks -what a mess!!

[Flummery]

Alice, if you grow lovage, be warned that it's tall! I have it at the back of a flower border. It's 2ft high and bushy now. By June it will be over my head (and I'm 5ft 9!). With olive oil and red wine it makes a great salad dressing chopped fine. Lovely and celery-ish. I love this and celeriac but can't be doing with celery. I think it's the string!

Flum

[bramble]

I've tried growing it twice without any success. The first year it was stringy and bitter. The second year it went to seed. Foolishly I did'nt dig it up until the end of the season. It took me a couple of hours to het the roots out of the ground with a spade.