I am amazed at how well our celery has done. Amazed and very happy.
We’ve never grown it before, so we have been excited at our first success. Now, I’m not a big fan of celery, per se, but in soups and used for aromatics and mirepoix, it’s what we use.
We grew the Tall Utah variety (seems to be pretty popular) and I started it indoors and also did direct sow. The indoor seedlings looked so frail, I was convinced that they would die immediately after transfer. Boy was I wrong!
They Looked So Frail That First Day
This photo was taken right after we moved the seedlings into the garden at the end of May.
And Yet…
They grew into such sturdy plants. This photo from mid-to-late July.
I could harvest off of them easily every other day. This is from mid-August.
Preparing for the Freezer
Chop them up, give ’em a good wash, and then into the freezer! We chose not to blanch the celery. It will be used in soups and mirepoix. It is beautiful. Nice and crisp.
And Carrots, Too
We are thrilled with the variety of carrots we planted this year: Scarlet Nantes Carrot. We have had pretty good success with these.
Tip: Check them frequently when they are growing in the garden. As soon as you can see those pretty, orange tops coming up out of the soil, and as soon as you estimate they are big enough to pull – pull them! The critters love munch on the crowning tops! And we don’t like to share… 😉
Carrots and celery from the garden – go into the freezer! Here’s a sample picture from last weekend. We measured it out when putting into the bags so when it’s time to use it, we know how much we are adding.
Celery Leaves
These were washed thoroughly in cold water, patted dry, and also put into the freezer. We can use these celery leaves for making stock. No need to blanch them. We have A LOT we could save, but we need to be thoughtful when considering freezer space.
One More Note: Now Planting Some Fall Crops
In the space where we’ve pulled up a lot of our beets, we have planted Rudolf Radish seeds. They are supposed to grow fairly quickly. Have you ever tried roasted radishes? They are awesome!
In the Circle Garden, where we planted our herbs, we decided to plant some Golden Globe Turnips where some of the herbs did not come up. If you find yourself having space you didn’t expect, use it!
A Week After Planting and a Lot of Rain
We see radish sprouts (top picture) and turnip sprouts (bottom)!
What’s Up Doc?
😀 What’s coming up in your garden? What harvesting and putting up are you doing?
Tell us in a comment below! We’d love to hear about your experience, too!
Oh wow! Just wow with all your abundance! I’ve decided to forgo fall planting in favor of getting the garden in better shape for next year. I need to add dirt to the raised bed/hay wagon, get the asphalt removed, build raised beds, and I’m thinking of adding a cover crop to the soil in the hay wagon.
Also, roasted radishes!! Sound delicious! I pickled some radishes back in the spring. YUM! I’ll be doing that again for sure.
I like your labeling system too. No guessing on what it is, how much is in there, and all the other important info! Well done!
Hi Kristin – it is definitely a challenge to keep up! While we planted a lot of varieties this year, we could not get it all in. And the tomatoes always wandering, creating quite a bit of chaos. And now today, which would be a great day for getting some fall / over winter crops in where the potatoes were, is seeing a downpour, so it’s indoors work versus outdoors! Always something!
So something to think about: We did raised beds years ago in our small backyard we had in the city. (Too shady to grow anything.) When we bought our home here, we decided to forgo the raised beds (expense and time/effort) and shape our rows of compost about 6 inches deep. No tilling, no digging. Worked beautifully.
Now, raised beds are certainly nice (maybe even look prettier sometimes), but we learned we don’t need them! Food for thought! 🙂