Thursday 10 November 2011

Pull the other one

Today I dug up my first home grown celeriac. It had a lot of roots.

Celeriac roots

I also pulled a neep (swede/rutabaga) grown in the very next row.


Swede vs celeriac

The neep was sown direct outdoors, as a bit of an afterthought, the celeriac got a head start by about two months, started off indoors in my new propogator. It was watered copiously whenever it was dry.

The neep was pecked by pigeons until, when I noticed, I strung a looped string between two canes to distract them. It was touch and go whether to just pull them up at that point.

After trimming off the peripheral root there wasn't much left of the celeriac:


Size matters
 When it boils down to it my novelty celeriac was a waste of time, whereas the traditional neep grew away like topsy. Half of me thinks that I'll never try to grow celeiac again.  (The other half thinks I'm going to crack this nut next year - there must be some trick I am missing)

 To make matters worse I happened to see Masterchef tonight and virtually EVERY dish had celeriac in it.


p.s. Hope you like the new look and the bigger pictures. Also please note that I've set up a link to my new blog Edinburgh Album which I will use for my photo excursions around town, and around the country, from now on. The Allotment blog will continue, and  if things go well I might even start one just for bread.

p.s. I have started one for bread called 'Rye Smile' and you can link to it through Links above!

8 comments:

  1. some of my experiments didn;t go so well here either. its part of the deal anyway. Still fun though!

    Got any tatties to go with those neeps?

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  2. You're getting as bad as me for starting blogs and websites! It's already rubbing off on Martyn!

    You always need a challenge in the garden - we can't seem to grow celeriac either nor can our plot neighbours. Apparently too much nitrogen in the soil say from manure or recently fertilising can cause the sort of growth you have.

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  3. well at least you tried - experiments are always good even if a one off. You could still use the celeriac leaves if not too large/bitter ...

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  4. It seems to be a common problem, I have never yet produced a celeriac root larger than a tennis ball. I didn't bother this year but I'm giving them one more chance next year, on my new plot.

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  5. That's been my celeriac experience too. So frustrating, as I love celeriac remoulade, celeriac mash...

    Glad you gave in to temptation and started another blog. Funny that we both arrived at local area blogging via an allotment blog.

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  6. Your swede looks great...i haven't attempted to dig mine up yet so I have no idea how they have grown under ground. You celeriac didn't do very well but you are still a clear winner above me...mine took so long to germinate and so few did that IF I had got it in the ground I would have been lucky to even get any top greenery to look at.

    So are we going to try again next year??

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  7. I am reassured that others have had similar experience. The good news, Tany, is that I'm going to give it another go (in a less nitogen rich medium) next year. So game on!

    (Your swedes should be sitting pretty on the surface of the soil by now Tany!??? Are you growing parsnips?)

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  8. Yes I have parsnips in...and turnips too!!

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