Following Up on Celery in My California Garden

I posted earlier about planting celery for the first time.  At first it languished from my inexperience and lack of H2O.  Watering deeply has created a pseudo-bog condition for this one little plant*.  Now it is flourishing (I guess on a relative basis).

Plant has grown taller and greener with additional water.

Stalks revealed.

As I have done a bit of reading since planting the celery, I find many descriptions including this is a plant which requires additional attention.  If I wanted to preserve a less green stalk, I would bury the plant in soil much like one does when creating white asparagus.  Too much work for my taste.  I'll just enjoy it with its robust coloring and flavor.

Here is the part I am excited about.  Much like leaf lettuce which can be used as needed leaving the plant to produce more, the same goes for the celery plant.  So once the stalks get a bit larger, I can harvest a few at each meal as needed.  That's awesome.

*Water is from gray water created when I wash the lettuce from my garden.

Experimental Plant Lab in Zone 23: Celery

2011 is the year of experimentation for my garden.  I am trying my hand at growing vegetables which I  have no experience in growing.

I saw a celery seeding at the nursery one day a few weeks ago.  Why not?  I grabbed the small plastic pot and put if on the upper shelf of the push cart along with basil, lemon verbena (the lemon fragrance is intoxicating), and some lettuce (red romaine and red oakleaf) cell packs.

Did I mention I didn't bother reading the growing instructions?  Come on...this gardening stuff isn't rocket science.  Stick it in the dirt...winter rains...mother nature's robustness and things should grow. 

After several weeks the celery is going nowhere--fast. Perhaps I should I read the handy little information insert.  See, I keep them right next to the plant for easy referral.  Oh, now I understand...celery likes a moist, bog-like location (California rains do not a bog create).  And fertilizer.  Who knew?

Since then, I have upped the watering cycle and with the increasing daylight, things are greening up and growing.  Over the weekend, I worked a little worm casting and organic compost into the soil around the plant.

Stay tuned to see how things in the Experimental Plant Lab turn out.