Celery is a great vegetable to eat and regrow. In terms of taste, these crunchy sticks aren’t only great in salads but also make the perfect snack. Celery is great to eat with dips like hummus or baba ghanoush ( a delicious eggplant sesame dip).
In the celery family, along with common celery, there is also celeriac and leaf celery. All three belong to the Apiaceae family and all come from the same type of wild celery. It’s different from the other types of celery because it has a smaller root bulb. The plant grows long strong bright green stems with an intense flavour. That said, common celery is significantly milder than its relatives, and its effect as an ingredient is much more understated.
But taste aside, celery is a leader in nutritious value: 100 grams only contain 18 calories! The reason for this is that celery is 92% water. Despite this, it’s rich in vitamin C and magnesium. It is also high in potassium and its diuretic properties can assist in cases of high blood pressure and joint complaints.
Steps to regrow celery
Find a good spot for your celery
A position with a little shade in hot, dry areas is beneficial, as celery demands constantly moist soil and its shallow root system can easily dry out. Mulching well after planting also helps keep the celery from drying out.
Prepare your celery
- Remove the stem of the celery with a sharp knife. The piece should be at least 5cm long.
- Place the separated stem in a glass of lukewarm water so that half the celery is above the surface of the water.
- Leave it in a bright spot for five to seven days.
- You should replace the water at least once. In addition, it’s helpful to spray the celery stem regularly with water. You can use a normal household spray bottle for this.
Plant your celery
After a week, you can plant the celery in the soil. The stalk should be almost entirely covered by the soil, only the leaves that have begun to grow in the middle should remain above the soil.
Celery grows best in nutrient-rich soil that has been enriched with plenty of compost and well-rotted manure.
Harvesting and use
After six weeks of waiting and watering, your celery will be ready for its first harvest. To regrow enough celery for one person, you will need to grow 10 to 20 stalks from reused stems, but the tasty, self-grown celery with its delicious leaves is worth the wait.
Harvest the plant by cutting off the celery sticks from the stalk with a sharp knife or plucking the leaves by hand. Harvest carefully so that the plant can recover and continue to grow.
With your regrow celery, you can now prepare lots of delicious recipes. Nothing beats the flavour of homegrown food.
