Celery Leaf

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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.

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.

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