Wednesday 1 March 2017

Celery Leaf

Last year I (perhaps foolishly) allowed a Celery Leaf plant to flower in my garden. It produced thousands of seeds, many of which have now decided to grow.

Photo from July 2016

Can you see the big open tub at the right of the photo above - the one with Asparagus growing in it? Well, the whole surface of that tub was until recently almost completely covered with tiny Celery Leaf seedlings. But then I though "Shouldn't I rip them out, because the Asparagus will be appearing before very long?" I am also aware that Celery Leaf seedlings make a delectable, though pungent, salad ingredient. So I hedged my bets and kept "just a few".


Thinking about it now, I reckon that what I'll do is transplant some of the seedlings to a more sensible location, so that I can freshen-up the tub prior to the arrival of the first spears of Asparagus. Before that though, I may well take a crop of the lovely tasty little leaves!


Ironically, I saved a big bag of Celery Leaf seeds last year too, just in case none of the naturally-sown ones survived! I don't think they will be needed.

By the way, if you haven't already discovered Celery Leaf, I recommend you try it. It's easy to grow (Evidently. See above!), and very convenient to have around. Just a couple of leaves added to a soup stew or stock give your dish a delightful intensely savoury flavour. You don't need a lot of it though, because of its strong taste - perhaps a small clump of 5 or 6 plants? This my original plant, which I cut down to ground level after it had flowered.


Despite the Winter frosts, and the current rain, it seems to have survived very well. I had expected it to die after flowering, so this is a bonus.

3 comments:

  1. Is Celery Leaf and different from Lovage? It sounds just like it. After a couple of years I eradicated ours - I don't like celery and I dislike Lovage even more! Like most things you are not too fussed about growing they grow like billy-o!

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  2. After buying a tiny pot out of curiosity at the Abergavenny food festival, I have had Par-cel in my veg plot for several years (which if not the same, must be a very close relative). I love it because of the obliging way it self-seeds: so much more reliable than proper parsley! I use it in place of parsley, and just let a plant or two go to seed at the end of its bienniel stint ( you can always hoe off the many excess seedlings). they survive our very amateur attempt at a compost heap, and are now showing their faces all over the garden and even in the greenhouse. A very aimiable thug.

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  3. You will never be without from now on.

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