CELERY: GROWING IT IS NOT HARD
Everyone buys celery. It's great in soups, stews and salads and even stuffing with peanut butter. Recently the cost of celery has gone through the roof (I've seen it as high at $6). Growing celery is quite easy with the right preparations and techniques. And, as with all fruits and vegetables, there's nothing better than having fresh produce right in your yard to pick whenever you need it.
SOIL
Soil preparation is, as with all gardening, is very important. Celery has a very fine roots system so very loose soil is important. Adding lots of compost to your garden is always a great idea.
SOWING SEEDS
Celery requires has about a 120 days to maturity. Because of the long grow time,
in Ontario sow seeds 8-10 weeks before the last projected frost date for your area. Use a good quality potting soil, not garden soil or compost. Small pots or recycled materials such as egg cartons or disposable cups are super for seed staring. Lay the seed on top of the soil and do not cover and don't cover with soil. Place pots under grow lights in a warm room. Do not allow to dry out.
If using transplants from the garden centre plant after projected frost day and the soil is warm. Thin plants out so you are planting just one. One plant per foot.
FERTILIZER AND WATERING
Celery are very heavy feeders so supplementing with additional fertilizer is recommended. Combine epsom salt, blood meal and bone meal and add to soil but not too deep as celery has very fine, shallow roots.
Water is celery's best friend. Consistent and thorough watering is crucial to success with celery. An 1" to 1/2" per week, every week will prevent stringy, tough celery.
SUN
Minimum 5-7 hours of sun is required.
BLANCHING
If you want your celery for fresh eating blanching your celery is recommended. Blanching will create the white or light green stalks. If you use celery in cooking blanching is not required and will produce bright green stalks with outstanding flavour.
Blanching Styles:
1. Mound soil approximately four inches up against the developing plant to hide it from the sun.
2. To keep dirt out of your celery, blanch by tying the tops of the celery’s leaves with twine. This keeps the stalks close together, hiding the centre from sun but not close enough to cause mold.
Tip: Do not blanch with paper. This will result in a buildup of moisture, causing mold.
WATERING
Water is celery's best friend. Give it at least 1" of water per week. Failure to give celery enough water will result in tough and stringy celery.
HARVESTING
Celery is versatile when it comes to harvesting. You can either harvest the entire plant by cutting at the base or harvest just one or two stalks at a time.
SOIL
Soil preparation is, as with all gardening, is very important. Celery has a very fine roots system so very loose soil is important. Adding lots of compost to your garden is always a great idea.
SOWING SEEDS
Celery requires has about a 120 days to maturity. Because of the long grow time,
in Ontario sow seeds 8-10 weeks before the last projected frost date for your area. Use a good quality potting soil, not garden soil or compost. Small pots or recycled materials such as egg cartons or disposable cups are super for seed staring. Lay the seed on top of the soil and do not cover and don't cover with soil. Place pots under grow lights in a warm room. Do not allow to dry out.
If using transplants from the garden centre plant after projected frost day and the soil is warm. Thin plants out so you are planting just one. One plant per foot.
FERTILIZER AND WATERING
Celery are very heavy feeders so supplementing with additional fertilizer is recommended. Combine epsom salt, blood meal and bone meal and add to soil but not too deep as celery has very fine, shallow roots.
Water is celery's best friend. Consistent and thorough watering is crucial to success with celery. An 1" to 1/2" per week, every week will prevent stringy, tough celery.
SUN
Minimum 5-7 hours of sun is required.
BLANCHING
If you want your celery for fresh eating blanching your celery is recommended. Blanching will create the white or light green stalks. If you use celery in cooking blanching is not required and will produce bright green stalks with outstanding flavour.
Blanching Styles:
1. Mound soil approximately four inches up against the developing plant to hide it from the sun.
2. To keep dirt out of your celery, blanch by tying the tops of the celery’s leaves with twine. This keeps the stalks close together, hiding the centre from sun but not close enough to cause mold.
Tip: Do not blanch with paper. This will result in a buildup of moisture, causing mold.
WATERING
Water is celery's best friend. Give it at least 1" of water per week. Failure to give celery enough water will result in tough and stringy celery.
HARVESTING
Celery is versatile when it comes to harvesting. You can either harvest the entire plant by cutting at the base or harvest just one or two stalks at a time.
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Planting cold hardy veggies
April 15, 2019
This time of year we are all itching to get into the garden and plant something. Anything! It's a great time of year to plant those veggies that enjoy the cooler weather and hate the heat. Most of the early spring veggies can be planted from seed with the exception of broccoli. Those are best planted from starts due to the fairly long growing period. Although broccoli is technically not a cool weather veggie it does need to be started indoors early and planted early as it does not enjoy the heat of summer. But lettuces, kale, spinach, radishes, beets and peas are great to seed directly into the garden or container early. (Radishes are great for kids to plant as they grow very quickly)
Sowing seeds directly into the garden is easy. Great soil, full of organic matter, is a must. Check the seed packet for info on individual requirements. (planting depth and timing.)
Broccoli is best started inside from seed. Plant them out in the garden after the last expected frost date. Broccoli does not like the high summer temps and those temps will cause your broccoli to bolt (flower). It's not to late to get them started inside as they take about 10-14 days to germinate and keeping them inside for 7-10 brings us here in Ontario till just after our last frost date. If frost is sticking around late into May and you want to get plants in the ground try using a cloche. A plastic or glass cover. The dollar store carries them for $2.50. You can also use glass vases from the dollar store or thrift store.
Just remember to give the germinated seed lots of light until it's planted outside. Hardening off your seedlings is an important step. For a week before you plant into the garden, bring your seedlings outside into the sunshine, but watch for wind as it can damage young plants very quickly, for a few hours each day to become acclimated to the outside. Increasing the number of hours each day as the week progresses.
Tip for Planting Broccoli
Broccoli is subject to club root. To prevent club root dig down 3" where you are planting and tamp down the soil with your foot. Plant your broccoli and water well.
When growing broccoli you are growing leaves so give your broccoli lots of nitrogen rich fertilizer. The amount of nitrogen is indicated by the first number on the bag of fertilizer.
Give your broccoli an inch of water a week throughout the growing season.
Peas are another great cool weather veggie to get in the ground or in pots. When planting in pots look for dwarf varieties such as Tom Thumb. They couldn't be easier. Plant 1" deep and cover with soil and water. If planting in the garden make sure to give them something to climb on and putting that in place when you plant the seed is much easier than waiting till they are bigger and need it.
Don't have a garden? No problem. You can grow all the early season crops in containers. Just remember to choose the size carefully. Radish need a slightly deeper pot to allow the roots to grow and develop. Lettuce, kale and spinach do very well in containers. Just sprinkle seeds over the soil and lightly cover with soil. Remember: use potting mix not garden soil or compost in your containers.
This time of year we are all itching to get into the garden and plant something. Anything! It's a great time of year to plant those veggies that enjoy the cooler weather and hate the heat. Most of the early spring veggies can be planted from seed with the exception of broccoli. Those are best planted from starts due to the fairly long growing period. Although broccoli is technically not a cool weather veggie it does need to be started indoors early and planted early as it does not enjoy the heat of summer. But lettuces, kale, spinach, radishes, beets and peas are great to seed directly into the garden or container early. (Radishes are great for kids to plant as they grow very quickly)
Sowing seeds directly into the garden is easy. Great soil, full of organic matter, is a must. Check the seed packet for info on individual requirements. (planting depth and timing.)
Broccoli is best started inside from seed. Plant them out in the garden after the last expected frost date. Broccoli does not like the high summer temps and those temps will cause your broccoli to bolt (flower). It's not to late to get them started inside as they take about 10-14 days to germinate and keeping them inside for 7-10 brings us here in Ontario till just after our last frost date. If frost is sticking around late into May and you want to get plants in the ground try using a cloche. A plastic or glass cover. The dollar store carries them for $2.50. You can also use glass vases from the dollar store or thrift store.
Just remember to give the germinated seed lots of light until it's planted outside. Hardening off your seedlings is an important step. For a week before you plant into the garden, bring your seedlings outside into the sunshine, but watch for wind as it can damage young plants very quickly, for a few hours each day to become acclimated to the outside. Increasing the number of hours each day as the week progresses.
Tip for Planting Broccoli
Broccoli is subject to club root. To prevent club root dig down 3" where you are planting and tamp down the soil with your foot. Plant your broccoli and water well.
When growing broccoli you are growing leaves so give your broccoli lots of nitrogen rich fertilizer. The amount of nitrogen is indicated by the first number on the bag of fertilizer.
Give your broccoli an inch of water a week throughout the growing season.
Peas are another great cool weather veggie to get in the ground or in pots. When planting in pots look for dwarf varieties such as Tom Thumb. They couldn't be easier. Plant 1" deep and cover with soil and water. If planting in the garden make sure to give them something to climb on and putting that in place when you plant the seed is much easier than waiting till they are bigger and need it.
Don't have a garden? No problem. You can grow all the early season crops in containers. Just remember to choose the size carefully. Radish need a slightly deeper pot to allow the roots to grow and develop. Lettuce, kale and spinach do very well in containers. Just sprinkle seeds over the soil and lightly cover with soil. Remember: use potting mix not garden soil or compost in your containers.
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HOW TO GROW GARLIC
Garlic is a perennial member of the onion family, Alliaceae, and is closely related to leeks, onions, shallots, and chives. All of these plants send up hollow, tubular (sometimes flattened) leaves from a bulb that grows below the ground. The leaves are followed by a flower stalk (scape), and then by the flower itself . Garlic may also produce “bulbils” – tiny bulbs that may begin to sprout, on the flower head. All parts of the garlic plant are edible, but the bulb is the most prized and useful in the kitchen.
There are 2 categories of garlic - softneck and hardback. Softneck garlic is easy to grow in mild climates. Choose the hardneck varieties for areas where winters are severe. Softneck usually produces smaller, more numerous cloves per head, and it stores particularly well. Storing garlic is all about keeping it relatively warm and dry. This encourages the cloves to stay dormant (prevent them from sprouting).
Difficulty: Easy. Garlic is not suited for growing in containers. This can be done, but it’s better in the ground, or possibly in raised beds.
Timing: Plant cloves from September to the end of November. There is a brief window at the beginning of March when you can plant for a fall harvest, but in this climate garlic performs better if overwintered.
Sowing: Separate the cloves and set each one, pointed end up, 10-15cm (4-6”) apart and with the tip of the clove 2-5cm (1-2”) deep. Don’t skin the cloves! Use deeper planting if rain or frost may expose the cloves, and shallower planting if using mulch or planting into heavy soil. The largest cloves will make the largest bulbs.
Soil: Rich, well drained soil. Dig well, add compost (lots of it if your soil is heavy) and do not compact it by stepping on it. Lime the soil several weeks before planting if the pH is lower than 6.0.
Growing: Fertilize when spring growth starts. Water as needed and keep weeded. Cut flower stalks to keep energy in the bulb. If individual cloves haven’t formed, either eat the clove or replant and it will bulb next year.
Harvest: When the tops begin to dry, pull and air-dry like onions. Some growers recommend waiting until 75% of the plant has dried up before pulling, and others say the key is to pull when each plant is down to 6 green leaves. More on When to Harvest Garlic.
Storage: Store in a cool, dry environment. Moisture and heat will provoke sprouting.
Pests & Disease: Many growers have been hit with White Rot that causes black spots and decay on the bulbs. It is easily spread in infected soil and water and is very persistent in the soil. Flooding the bed for 4 weeks in the spring may kill it. Best way to avoid it is not to leave decaying alliums in the ground and by using a strict 4-year rotation.
Companion Planting: Planting garlic near roses will help to repel aphids. Because of its sulfur compounds, it may also help repel whiteflies, Japanese beetles, root maggots, carrot rust fly, and other pests. Garlic, made into a tea, or spray, will act as a systemic pesticide, drawing up into the cells of the plants. It’s a good companion for beets, Brassicas, celery, lettuce, potatoes, strawberries, and tomatoes. Avoid planting it near peas or beans of any kind. More on Companion Planting.
There are 2 categories of garlic - softneck and hardback. Softneck garlic is easy to grow in mild climates. Choose the hardneck varieties for areas where winters are severe. Softneck usually produces smaller, more numerous cloves per head, and it stores particularly well. Storing garlic is all about keeping it relatively warm and dry. This encourages the cloves to stay dormant (prevent them from sprouting).
Difficulty: Easy. Garlic is not suited for growing in containers. This can be done, but it’s better in the ground, or possibly in raised beds.
Timing: Plant cloves from September to the end of November. There is a brief window at the beginning of March when you can plant for a fall harvest, but in this climate garlic performs better if overwintered.
Sowing: Separate the cloves and set each one, pointed end up, 10-15cm (4-6”) apart and with the tip of the clove 2-5cm (1-2”) deep. Don’t skin the cloves! Use deeper planting if rain or frost may expose the cloves, and shallower planting if using mulch or planting into heavy soil. The largest cloves will make the largest bulbs.
Soil: Rich, well drained soil. Dig well, add compost (lots of it if your soil is heavy) and do not compact it by stepping on it. Lime the soil several weeks before planting if the pH is lower than 6.0.
Growing: Fertilize when spring growth starts. Water as needed and keep weeded. Cut flower stalks to keep energy in the bulb. If individual cloves haven’t formed, either eat the clove or replant and it will bulb next year.
Harvest: When the tops begin to dry, pull and air-dry like onions. Some growers recommend waiting until 75% of the plant has dried up before pulling, and others say the key is to pull when each plant is down to 6 green leaves. More on When to Harvest Garlic.
Storage: Store in a cool, dry environment. Moisture and heat will provoke sprouting.
Pests & Disease: Many growers have been hit with White Rot that causes black spots and decay on the bulbs. It is easily spread in infected soil and water and is very persistent in the soil. Flooding the bed for 4 weeks in the spring may kill it. Best way to avoid it is not to leave decaying alliums in the ground and by using a strict 4-year rotation.
Companion Planting: Planting garlic near roses will help to repel aphids. Because of its sulfur compounds, it may also help repel whiteflies, Japanese beetles, root maggots, carrot rust fly, and other pests. Garlic, made into a tea, or spray, will act as a systemic pesticide, drawing up into the cells of the plants. It’s a good companion for beets, Brassicas, celery, lettuce, potatoes, strawberries, and tomatoes. Avoid planting it near peas or beans of any kind. More on Companion Planting.