Celery-Diva of the veg world

Willing workers but Anne hates celery!!

Don't set foot in my garden unless you want a job! Right now between flowers, veg, and fruit the list of to do's is going on and on and on ........

I thought (foolishly) that I would sow a tray of celery, harden it off and transplant it out. I even bought self blanching celery-just to be sure of a easy time of it. I generously sowed a small tray and of course every seed germinated. Great. Then it turns out you have to transplant the shagging plants into pots and grow them on to 5 leaves before you can plan them down the garden!! And the frost must be gone! Celery started looking like a right Diva.

Luckily for me two willing volunteers arrived today, my sister Annie and Mary my mother in law. I broke them in gently, getting Mary to transplant tomatoes and Annie to help her with some tiny plug plants. Of course they had a great time of it sitting out in the glorious sunshine, their sunhats and sunblock on chatting away and getting a little production line going. So when they ran out of work and asked for more I produced the celery!

Sturdy little plants

Lets just say it didn't prove to be as popular as the tomatoes! It kept me busy too transplanting out small salad plants in order to free up more and more small pots for them.You can never have enough pots this time of the year.  By the time they had finished ( with a third of the seed tray remaining to be done) they had transplanted 72 celery plants! It's a good job I like celery, still you must ask yourself do I really like it THAT much? Sowing to cropping -25 weeks. They are going to occupy a large chunk of space for 6 months-the seed packet advise is to plant them in blocks, 9 inches between plants each way. I will have to wait until I eat it to see if it was worth all this hassle, but in the meantime many thanks to Mary and to Annie for getting the worst of the job done. Anyone else at a lose end give me a call......and if you would l;ike to try some celery give me a shout too!!

In one more month they will be transplanted outside