A year and a half ago, we had a large celery crop. I even put together a cream of celery soup recipe to help everyone use the bounty. There is a reason that someone decided to can the stuff. It’s a great soup when made fresh.
I saved one plant because I wanted the seeds, to eat, not specifically to plant. But I have been curious about the life cycle of this biennial plant.
After a year the plant died, but reclaiming the seeds was more of a project than I wanted. Celery seeds are so small that trying to separate the seeds from the chaff wasn’t worth the effort so I left it alone.
We have reclaimed additional land, so it wasn’t in the way.
I had noticed that new celery plants had started growing nearby. The plant seeded itself in the ground and the seeds germinated probably in late spring.
These celery plants, growing through the summer, are now full size and ready for harvest. We were able to send three or four stalks for each member.
You won’t want to use them on a crudité platter. We don’t have the climate for watery celery. They will work in your favorite stuffing or dressing recipe or any cooked dish. Or chop finely and use the celery and its leaves for a burst of fresh flavor.
To compliment the holiday we also sent parsley and sage. To keep these herbs fresh in the fridge, keep them dry, but wrapped in a damp paper towel, inside of a plastic bag or container. Too much moisture on the leaves will cause them to spoil quickly, and of course, not enough will let them dry and wilt.
The sage looked beautiful about three weeks ago. I went to harvest it today, and it was dying and had been eaten by some small insect. We have a half-wine barrel that we use as a planter and keep the sage from year to year. I really wanted to send it for Thanksgiving, so I picked through it, removing dead leaves and ones with too many holes so that we could send a little to everyone, but as I was harvesting, I recollected that the same thing happened last year. I will need to make sure to review these notes in the future. Next year, I would send it out early and then let the members dry it if they wanted to have it through the fall.
We sent out the remaining butternut and spaghetti squash today. We just have a few squash remaining, many of them slightly green. I think we need to plant these earlier. The only concern is having the storage space. The later planting allows us to pick and send without storing.
Our fall planting of dill has been ready to pick for a few weeks. I finally cut a little today. We will have more through the winter.
The last carrots from the first fall planting were picked today. When we come back after Thanksgiving, we will move to the new row.
We had some giant green leaf lettuce heads harvested. I posted the picture below to add to my collection of photos with giant vegetables.
We had seven heads of cabbage that were ready and about twelve heads of broccoli. The remaining three members got our Brussels sprouts greens.
We continued to dig up sweet potatoes. The rain we had last week slowed down the process with our sticky clay soil. Next year if I can learn how to store them better, I would like to start harvesting earlier in the year, before any chance of rain.
Three weeks since we first cut the spinach, we harvested it again today. We cut the leaves and send them loose and can make several cuttings from the same plants. It’s harder to wash and pack, but it is nice to get several batches out of one planting.
For our next harvest in December, we will have 3-4 heads of Napa Cabbage ready to go. The purple-top turnips are just about ready. And the kale is small, but the plants are ready for a haircut.
I’ll be planting at the farm on Monday, trying to get all the seedlings in the ground before the end of the year.
Have a great Thanksgiving, I’ll be back in December.
Julie Moreno
