the garden: celery update 2

That cool fall weather that I've been waiting for finally showed up Sunday. Low humidity, mild temperatures, nice breezes -- perfect for painting furniture on the patio, doing some gardening, taking a walk through the neighborhood. And sleeping with the windows open, something Tony and I did for the first time since the beginning of the summer.

It also was the perfect weather for my celery plant to thrive. That is, you know, if my celery plant STILL EXISTED.

(Recap: I've been attempting to grow my own celery from the base of an old stalk. See my original post and my first update.)

It turns out that last week, someone dug up the entire plant and took it with them, leaving a big hole. They also left a few leaves, just to taunt me. I don't have enough evidence to convict, but all circumstantial evidence points to the damned squirrel that lives in my alley as being the culprit.

Squirrels: 2. (Including the tomato crime.)

Jessi: 0.

the garden: celery update 1

You were skeptical that I'd be able to grow a new celery shoots from the butt of an old stalk, weren't you? Well, I'm happy to report that Phase One of my celery experiment is going swimmingly and just as planned. (Read my first post on growing celery.)

This is how the plant looked Sunday, after sitting in a bowl of water on the patio for 12 days. (I changed the water every day or two.) The new growth looks great. The old base is starting to rot away.

Time to go in the ground. I buried the old stalk, so only the new growth is above the ground. Celery likes cool weather, so I put it in the shade of my green pepper plant, which I hope saves it from the last of the summer heat.

My two previous attempts at growing celery ended here because the plants died shortly after going into the ground. Hopefully my thumb has become more green since then. Stay tuned.

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.