Celery for the Home Garden— By Barry Loring at 



HOW TO GROW CRISP, SWEET, NUTTY CELERY FOR TABLE USE FROM AUGUST TO MARCH— WHY BEGINNERS 

 ARE AFRAID TO TRY CELERY — NOT A DIFFICULT CROP TO GROW — THE NECESSARY CONDITIONS 



Photographs by H. B. Fullerton 



WHY should anybody be afraid to grow 

 celery ? The reason why most ama- 

 teurs fail with celery is that they plant it on 

 a shallow, dry soil and do not give water 

 often enough, or else thev have ground wet 



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236. Celery seedling ready for first transplanting 

 which will checK the long tap-root and make a fibrous 

 root-system that will stand the shocK of transplanting 

 better and make the work easier 



to stagnation. While celery must have 

 abundance of water, it demands good 

 drainage. Therefore a deep soil is necessary 

 and a wet place must be tile-drained. Soil 

 for celery must be rich in nitrogen. Stable 

 manure will provide the nitrogen for this 

 purpose and increase the moisture holding 

 capacity better than anything else. This 

 is celery culture in a nut shell. 



The early or August crop of celery is to 

 be planted out in May, from seeds started 

 indoors during February, and young plants 

 need transplanting once indoors. The late 

 or main crop is tended in the same way, but 

 the seed is sown the last of March or April. 

 If you have a well protected seed bed, or a 

 coldframe, they can be started at once in 

 either, and the improvised seed box is also 

 fine for them. You may wonder why they 

 have to be transplanted from the seed bed 

 into another bed and thence into the garden, 

 for it sounds like unnecessary work. You 

 can try sowing the seed in drills in a bed, 

 thin out well and allow the plants to remain 

 there until it is time to set them out into the 

 garden but this is what you will "go up 

 against": Celery makes a long tap root, 

 that is, a root which goes straight down 

 into the earth with very few fine, side, or 

 fibrous roots. When the tiny seedling is 

 transplanted, the end of this tap root is 

 usually broken, the fibrous roots are forced 

 to start work, and they make a clump. Then 

 ■when the second transplanting time comes, 



the root it not so long, but bunchy, and not 

 nearly so liable to be badly injured. If 

 the seedling is allowed to remain in the seed 

 bed until setting out time comes, it has a 

 root so long that it is almost invariably 

 badly broken in lifting, and the shock being 

 much greater the plant's progress is seriously- 

 retarded at the time when it needs to grow 

 most quickly. Therefore, two transplantings 

 are far ahead of one, and if one of these 

 has been into an individual receptacle, that 

 is better still. 



When the seedlings appear, tend them 

 carefully, turning the box each day that they 

 may not be drawn in one direction toward 

 the light. Keep them moist, but not wet, 

 and not too warm, or they will be tall and 

 spindly. If they are too thick, pull out a 

 few weaklings and give the others a better 

 chance. When the second leaf appears, 

 and they are jostling and pushing elbows 

 for room, transplant them into a second box, 



237. A well-grown head of celery — solid, thoroughly- 

 blanched and clean. No earth between the stalks 



deeper than a flat, or into a coldframe, whence 

 they can be planted into the garden. 



Having filled a flat with finely sifted leaf 

 mold, mixed with sand, scrape the earth off 

 even with the top of the box, shake or press 

 it down with the hand, and, if the soil is 

 very dry, sprinkle it lightly with a rose 

 sprayer and let it stand a little while before 

 sowing the seed. There are two methods 

 for doing this; one is to sow or sprinkle the 

 seed over the entire surface; the other to 

 mark shallow drills, one or two inches apart, 

 and sow the seed thickly in these, barely 



180 



covering it. I prefer the latter plan for in 

 that way it is easier to lift the seedlings when 

 the first transplanting time comes. Place 

 the flat in a bright, moderately warm window, 

 and water very gently when the surface 

 shows a tendency to dry out. The seedlings 

 appear in two or three weeks. 



Celery loves light, rich soil, and the flavor 

 of the plant is much finer from that kind of 

 land, than when it is raised on a heavy clay, 

 bog or peat soil. But it also demands plenty 

 of water. Therefore a thorough preparation 

 of the ground in dealing with the crop is more 

 than usually profitable. 



I reiterate, celery loves a very rich, light 

 soil, well drained, and it craves plenty of 

 water, often. Dig your trench, or bed, deep, 

 put in some well-rotted manure, or, if you 

 can possibly get hold of it, some hen droppings, 

 and if the soot from the chimneys has not 

 gone on the rose bed, add that too. A little 

 bone-meal and wood-ashes will not do any 

 harm, for celery is not subject to indigestion 

 from over feeding. 



Celery is an important crop for the home 

 garden, as it occupies ground upon which 

 some earlier crop has already matured. It 

 can follow peas or spinach for instance. It 

 likes nitrogen in abundance and so does 

 particularly well as a second crop on the 

 ground previously occupied by peas. 



Have you decided which way to grow 

 celery ? If so let us set out the plants. The 

 bed or row is made, raked fine, and the gar- 

 den line run. Now make holes with the 

 dibble, or, if your plants are too large, with 

 a trowel, every six inches. Take up the 

 plantlets carefully, having run a knife between 

 them to separate the roots, and place them 

 in a basket, box or pan, a few at a time. 

 Set them one by one into the holes, firm the 

 earth well around them, and at once protect 

 each with a mulch. Proceed in this way 

 to the end of the row. The mulch may be 



238. Storing celery for the winter in the garden. 

 The irench is lined with hay for warmth and cleanli- 

 ness. Simple and costs nothing 



