the garden: celery

Twice I have attempted to turn the butt of a celery stalk into a whole new plant. I read on the Internet that it can be done. Twice I have failed. But I am not ready to give this experiment up. I'm too in love with the idea of growing a new celery plant from a base you'd otherwise throw away.

So I'm trying it again, using the celery base from the Bloody Marys at Sunday brunch. I have the celery in a bowl of water, and pretty soon new shoots and leaves will start growing from the middle.

Once it looks like a substantial plant, I'll put it in the ground, so only the new growth appears above the soil. Twice I have made it this far. 

I think my fatal errors in my previous attempts are related to the heat. Celery likes the cool weather. I put the first plant in direct sunlight in the height of the summer. It shriveled and died quickly. I put the second plant in the shade of a tomato plant, and it survived for a few weeks, but I think the heat took its toll. 

So I'll try again and hope the weather starts to cool down.