Celery

Celery is a very popular and versatile vegetable which repays good and careful treatment.

Sow in early March under glass to germinate at about 65 degrees F.

Fill a box with sandy soil - the seeds for celery are very small and barely need covering.

When you see three to four leaves on the seedlings set them out about two inches apart in boxes, using a good potting compost, at a temperature of 60 degrees F.

Transfer them to a cold frame in May to let them harden off, they should be ready for planting out in early June.

The trench for winter celery should be about ten inches wide for a single row and eighteen inches wide for a double row; try to leave at least three feet between rows.

Work farm manure or compost into the bottom of the trench and fill to within three to four inches of the surface.

Plant out the celery twelve inches apart, staggering double rows, water well. If you plant them out in bright sunshine, cover them with hessian or similar material for a day or so.

Don’t earth-up the plants until they are nearly fully grown; earthing-up the plants will blanch the stems and make them edible and must be done gradually and gently, without letting any soil fall into the hearts of the plants, remove side shoots and any dead leaves that are hanging around.

Six weeks after the final earthing-up, the stems will be ready for use.

Alternatively blanch the stems with some strong paper, adding fresh bands as the stems grow. Subsequent earthing-up outside the paper barrier makes for great blanching when earthing-up.