How to Cook and Grow Celery

These members of the parsley family probably originated near the Mediterranean, but wild forms of barely resembling out garden kings grow in low-lying wet places throughout Europe and southern Asia. The French apparently were the first to use celery as a food, around 1600. Earlier it found some use as a medicine. The first recorded commercial production of celery was in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 1874.

CELERY
Celery demands more time and attention than most garden vegetables. If you don't start from transplants, sow seed 2 to 4 months before your spring planting time. Seed should germinate in 2 or 3 weeks.

Sow the very small seed 1/8 inch deep and keep moist by covering the flats or pots with moist burlap. Transplant carefully, and provide generous shade and moisture to the new plants.

Celery grows naturally in wet, almost boggy locations, so the water supply must be plentiful and continuous. Use plenty of 5-10-10 fertilizer, since celery is a long, heavy, feeder.

Although branching usually is not necessary with modern varieties, it may make the stalks tenderer. White stacks are less common in markets now and you may want to grow your own. Wrapping with paper or shading with boards will blanch the stalks.

Varieties
Use slow-bolting varieties for early spring planting: 'Summer Pascal', 115 days; and 'Golden Self Blanching', 115 days.
For late spring or summer planting use: 'Utah 52-70', 125 days; or 'Giant Pascal', 125 days.

How to use
Celery is well known as an hors d'oeuvre stuffed with cheese or dipped into hot or cold dips. Add to salads or use chopped to enhance spreads. The leafy tops, chopped fine, go well in soups and salads, and leaves also can be dried, powdered, and used as a seasoning.

By itself, celery makes a delicious creamed soup. As a hot vegetable, it can be boiled, braised, fried or baked. Try stewing with tomatoes, shallots, and basil; or serve hot adorned with anchovy fillets and wine vinegar.

CELERIAC
A form of celery grown for its swollen root, this plant is smaller and its foliage a very dark green. Grow celeriac in the same way as celery; it is just as demanding of high fertilizing and a continuous supply of water. Harvest the root once it is 2 inches or more in diameter.

How to use
The taste of celeriac has been described as, "celery flavored with English walnuts." Though it can be shredded and served raw in salads, it is better cooked, and is good in soups, stews, and Oriental dishes. Try it steamed and served with butter or a cream sauce; or parboil, slice, and bread it, and fry it in butter.

The faint bitterness of celeriac can be removed by blanching in salted water and lemon juice just prior to preparation.

CHARD
Chard, or Swiss chard, is a king of beet that makes edible leaves and stalks instead of roots. Considered the beet of the ancients, it was popular long before Roman times. Chard's greatest virtue is its ability to take high summer temperatures in stride while spinach and lettuce bolt to seed.

Plant chard the same time as beets: fall to early spring in mild-climate areas; and spring to midsummer in the north. Sow seeds in rows 18 to 24 inches apart and thin to 4 to 8 inches apart. Thinnings can be used for greens.

The large, crinkly leaves and fleshy stalks can be cut as the plant grows, so that one planting can be harvested over many months. Even if the entire plant is cut off an inch or two above the crowns, new leaves will come.

Varieties
'Fordhook Giant', 60 days, develops very broad, thick, white stalks and thick, crinkly, dark green leaves;
'Lucullus', 60 days, has light green leaves and broad white stalks;
'Rhubarb Chard', 60 days, has green leaves and red stalks.

How to use
Chard stalks can be cooked like celery, leaves like spinach; if cooked together, the stalks should be given a 5-minute head start for equal tenderness.

Cut the thick stalks into 2 or 3-inch lengths and simmer in boiling salted water until tender. Serve hot with butter and a touch of wine vinegar, or chilled with a vinaigrette.