Re-growing Celery

Nature is pretty ace isn’t it. From tiny seeds we get such incredible flowers and plants. Doesn’t it just blow your mind that we can get humongous pumpkins from a small seed?! Not only are we able to grow a crop of potatoes in a bag in our back yard but we can also regrow a few things from scraps we’d otherwise throw in the compost.

Celery for us last year was a big success, it kept going through the season and into the early winter. This is the method we tried and found worked for us. There are a few different ways of starting off so have an experiment and see which works for your family.

Materials Needed:

• 1 head of celery ends (the part at the bottom once you’ve chopped off the stems) Be sure to leave about 5-8cm.

• A little tub/pot/dish

• Water

• A warm windowsill

Chop your celery down so you have just a crown remaining. Between 5-8cm should be fine.

Put it in a little tub/pot/dish with a good drink of water, enough to cover the roots at the bottom.

Make sure you top up the water every few days, don’t let it dry out completely.

After 2 weeks you should see some good growth on the middle stems. You’ll see the outer stems begin to wither away, don’t panic, that’s meant to happen.

You’ll notice the outer stems will die away and from the centre you’ll have the new growth emerging.

Once you have a good 5-10cm growth in the middle, it’s time to re-home your project.

To re-home your celery, fill your new pot with good quality compost and place your root in the centre. Water well and cover up the roots leaving your new shoots to grow. You can cover up to the old growth but try not to smother the bulb.

If you’re planting in the garden, do so after the last frosts have passed. Dig your hole and put some good compost into the hole before planting out your celery. It tends to like a spot which isn’t in full sunlight but is well drained.

I haven’t any pictures of our celery in the allotment garden from last year, mainly because it was eaten before I managed to get a snap! Needless to say, it was the most flavoursome celery we’ve ever eaten. You can get a good steady supply by succession planting up until the end of summer.