Celeriac anyone??

marrbett

We pulled up one of our celeriacs today as I couldn't bear to leave it any longer!! We found a half -size perfectly formed celeriac which made a very nice (if small) mash for our tea.
The leaves smell of celery so I'm presuming that they are edible, so can anyone confirm that they are? Also, how much longer til they are the right size?
Many thanks.

shykins

yes u can eat the leaves. i usually chop them up and add them and the stalks to casseroles for a celery taste

havent pulled mine yet altho like u i am tempted, will see if i can leave them a bit longer... wish u hadnt reminded me actually cos now i am REALLY tempted to look lol

marrbett

shykins wrote: »

yes u can eat the leaves. i usually chop them up and add them and the stalks to casseroles for a celery taste

havent pulled mine yet altho like u i am tempted, will see if i can leave them a bit longer... wish u hadnt reminded me actually cos now i am REALLY tempted to look lol

Thanks so much, I'll get chopping then!!
Leave them abit longer, if my experience is anything to go on, but you could always pull just 1 up!!!!!Go on, you know you want to!!!

shykins

nooo dont tempt me lol...only got 2 planted cos it was an experiment

was thinking i might freeze some of the leaves to use in casseroles like i do with other herbs.

dont pick the celeriac.. mutter mutter.. dont pick the celeriac

Primrose

Mine are still only tennis ball size and probably won't grow much more now but I'll leave them in the ground and just rake some soil over the bulbs to protect from frost. Yes, you can use the leaves. They're useful chopped up in soups, stews, caseroles, etc, or chopped up and sprinkled on pasta sauces as a garnish.

Jake'sGran

I bought the seeds from Wilkinsons a couple of weeks ago. I like Celeriac very much but have no experience of growing it. After only growing tomatoes and chillies last year I am determined to grow more things to eat. Sounds like it is a bit slow to mature?

marrbett

Jake'sGran wrote: »

I bought the seeds from Wilkinsons a couple of weeks ago. I like Celeriac very much but have no experience of growing it. After only growing tomatoes and chillies last year I am determined to grow more things to eat. Sounds like it is a bit slow to mature?

Well, I planted mine out when they looked strong enough to survive the elements, early summer I think it was. They are really healthy looking plants now and I'm surprised that they aren't bigger. Can they stay in the ground after the weather turns frosty(still not really had frost yet in Bournemouth!!)? If swedes can stay in the ground for the winter, why can't celeriac??

Witham

Celeriac (the Ugliest veg out there let's be honest) is really under-rated. It's crisp and tasty thinly sliced or grated and fine cooked as a winter veg. I love the taste of mild celery. A word of caution is that it can be a little eh, shall we say windy? It has the potential to turn your bathtub into a jaccuzi - maybe an idea to leave the bedroom window open!

Ken68

Like them, can't seem to grow 'em. So buy one or two a year from Lidl and so far dice them for the slow cooker with other veg. BUT reading these posts, maybe just as suitable sliced very thin in a sandwich with cheese, or salad.
Refrshing taste and so is that peppermint thingy, er..kohl rabi ??

ChocolateMonkey

My celeriac has done pretty well this year although I did think it was going well last year until I pulled it up and it was teeeny tiny. I've been waiting ages to pull them up and I have a feeling I may turn one into a soup later this week.
My kohl rabi on the other hand has done pretty much nothing I was really looking forward to having mini mines in the ground.

Primrose

I've just picked my first bulbs of celeriac this season. They're only the size of tennis balls despite being in generously manured soil but the flavour is delicious. Last year I picked them all before the frosts and stored them in a bucket of dry peat but this year I'm just going to earth them up in situ. I'd love to know how the commercial growers for supermarkets get them so big. I once read somewhere that to get bigger bulbs you should pull off some of the leaves during the growing season - can anybody verify whether this actually works? It's delicious thinly siced in salads, as well as in soups & caseroles. We also like it roasted with other roasted veg such as peppers, aubergines, parsnips, etc.