Celery prefers cooler climates ranging from sixty to seventy degrees. It does not tolerate heat well and thrives in light shade. This vegetable needs four months to grow before being harvested. There are some important points to consider to grow celery at home.
This vegetable contains vitamins A, B, C, K, iron, calcium, potassium, riboflavin, magnesium, and manganese. Health benefits include relieving gout, rheumatism, and digestive problems. It also combats stomach and colon cancer, eliminates and prevents kidney and bladder stones, and reduces blood pressure and cholesterol. It is a natural anti-inflammatory, diuretic, and laxative. This low-calorie food also promotes weight loss.
This food is also a natural antiseptic used to soothe sore throats and mouth ulcers. Drinking its juice every day promotes clear skin, reduces allergy symptoms, helps those with ADHD, and provides nourishment after exercise. The chance of blood poisoning from rusty objects, infection, or burns is lowered due to the high level of mineral salts which brings down the amount of acid in the bloodstream.
It is recommended to start seeds indoors eight or ten weeks prior to the last frost of springtime. After twenty four hours of leaving seeds in water, they can be planted in containers of dirt with plant food or compost no more than one quarter inch deep. Plants sprout within two weeks and can be replanted into an outdoor garden when they become six inches tall. There should be at least six inches of space between each plant, and rows should be as wide as two feet apart. Since these plants have short roots, they should only be planted four inches into the ground and mounded with soil.
Fertilizer is needed once a month, and routine weeding keeps weeds from taking much-needed nutrients. The soil must be kept moist without becoming soaked. Not enough water results in slow-growing, stringy plants.
Blanching, which improves its bitter flavor, is accomplished by covering the stalks with straw, soil, or paper. This provides protection from the sun which causes the production of chlorophyll and turns the plants green. To prevent rotting, harvesting should occur no later than ten to fourteen days after the blanching process has started.
At the time of harvest, the plant is severed just beneath the level of the soil. This occurs once the head is no more than three inches in diameter. This food keeps well in the refrigerator for two weeks, or it can be dried, frozen, or canned. It is also possible to grow celery later in summer and harvest in late autumn or early winter for a later crop.
And finally, visit VegetableGardensMadeEasy.com for more vegetable gardening tips.