A Seed Saver's Garden

[digitS']

Do you start them from seed @digitS'? Or buy starts?

Seed.

I have never seen them as starts in the garden centers.

 

[flowerbug]

Seed.

I have never seen them as starts in the garden centers.

do you use deep cells or ? ...

 

[Decoy1]

I thought to post a LINK to this thread about growing celeriac.

There is no secret to growing them that I know of except that they take a very full season. That means that the sprouting of seed indoors begins very early, like 8 weeks before last frost.

Yes, they can take some chilly weather but I doubt if they are doing much growing after the first frost of Autumn. The post also gives you some idea of the difference here between Fall of 2025 and a more normal 2023. They were harvested a full month later this year.

Steve

I’ve never grown celeriac as beautifully round as those in your link @digitS' but I usually get usable roots.

I just wanted to add though that in my climate I start them rather earlier than eight weeks before the last frost. I start mine in February which is more like 12 weeks before the first frost. Like celery they need a lot of water.

I don’t use deep cells, just ordinary depth. From tiny seedlings they grow very slowly for the first few weeks of their lives.

 

[digitS']

Using the word "beautifully" in the same sentence with celeriac has a touch of humor, @Decoy1 .

Long season crop — patience is a virtue ... as is early care, especially.

Regular 1204 inserts for the flats, @flowerbug . I see that the supply outfits are beginning to call those compact. Well, okay.

 

[flowerbug]

Seed.

I have never seen them as starts in the garden centers.

i've never heard of them until from you when i first came to TEG.

 

[heirloomgal]

I’ve never grown celeriac as beautifully round as those in your link @digitS' but I usually get usable roots.

I just wanted to add though that in my climate I start them rather earlier than eight weeks before the last frost. I start mine in February which is more like 12 weeks before the first frost. Like celery they need a lot of water.

I don’t use deep cells, just ordinary depth. From tiny seedlings they grow very slowly for the first few weeks of their lives.

Have you grown Hamburg parsley roots @Decoy1? Now I'm wondering how to grow those (or if I should) given that they need such an early start and yet dislike transplanting. I feel like my celeriac may have been a bit too hairy, I used another one today and it doesn't seem normal how much I need to both clean off them as well as trim before peeling. May I ask your experience with that? And mine certainly did not get to the baseball size that @digitS' did.

 

[heirloomgal]

I feel like so many people have some knowledge or experience of horseradish. I have none. I'd never seen it until I bought a small plant this spring and I don't think I've ever eaten any. From what people shared about it last time I mentioned horseradish, it seems like an almost weedy plant. I can't tell that yet since I only planted mine in June, but I did choose a spot hemmed in by bricks so it can't spread. I'm excited to harvest roots this spring!

Anyway, the whole point of what I'm getting at here is a neat little video by Bob Flowerdew recently. He was saying he always wondered why people allowed so much horseradish to grow on the farm he grew up in England, until someone finally told him it was the fiber. He did a demonstration where he had soaked a stem with a leaf on the end in a bucket for a month. When he pulled it out of the bucket much of the plant matter had decomposed, leaving behind this wonderful handful of strings. He showed a thoroughly cleaned stem and my goodness it was a lovely little abundant bundle of blonde fibers suitable for using to tie things up!

I found a link afterward while researching this, so neat!

View this content on Instagram

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Horseradish fibres for cordage – Woodland Ways Blog – Bushcraft and Survival

blog.woodland-ways.co.uk

 

[heirloomgal]

The carrot experiment has officially reached completion. It has been quite interesting really, more so than I expected it to be. Getting a nice big harvest of indistinguishable carrots would have been fine; I wasn't convinced there was going to be that much difference between carrots.

I am definitely going to be ordering more Kyoto Red, Kuroda, and Chantenay Red. Every single one of those carrots really stood - true carrot excellence. Black Nebula was stunning to look at, but the taste just wasn't there. Not sure if I'll grow that one again. Manpukuji was fun because it can get so big, but nothing else was remarkable about it and the digging so cautiously not to break the tips was a bit of an annoyance. All the rest sort of blended together without a lot of distinction. Tendersweet seemed too small and skinny (like mini Imperators), Baby Finger same. Autumn King was even below average. The Italian carrot varieties were nice. Nantes definitely gets honorable mention and as a foundational carrot it makes the cut. I still liked Kuroda better, but Nantes is not far behind because it gains size very early too, and has A+ flavor.

Dug the last of the 'Chantenay Red' yesterday before it snowed. I really do love this carrot, such a good variety with so many pluses. Big, easy to dig up, heat tolerant, excellent flavor, doesn't need deep soil. It shall now stay forevermore.