Good enough to eat

Celery This can be a tricky crop to grow, but has become easier over the years thanks to self-blanching varieties which make cultivation easier, cutting out timeconsuming jobs such as digging trenches and earthing up. Sow seed indoors in spring and plant out in May in a block, which will help the plants blanch each other.

It’s best grown in a vegetable patch and prefers an open site with moistureretaining fertile soil, so add plenty of organic matter before planting and rake in a general fertiliser.

Harden the plants off and plant out after all danger of frost has passed, giving them plenty of water during the growing season.

In dry summers, celery is prone to bolting, so don’t let the plants go short of water. Good varieties include ‘Golden Self-Blanching’ and ‘ Victoria’.