Storing Celeriac

Harvesting and preserving your fruit & veg

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Primrose
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I'm going to have to dig up the rest of my celeriac soon to make room for this spring's digging & sowing. Will it keep if I store it in dry compost in the same way as I'm storing my beetroot, and can anybody tell me how long it will stay in good condition?
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FredFromOssett
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I feel fairly sure that celeriac will keep quite well as you suggest. I dug some on Christmas Eve and left them in a bag in the garage without any other protection such as peat or sand. They have been subject to whatever temperatures have been thrown at us, including several sub-zero nights, and I re-discovered them about a fortnight ago - well over a month from digging. Although the ends had started to deteriorate slightly they seemed perfectly sound when cut, and certainly cooked and tasted fine. If they had been stored properly rather than just 'forgotten' I think they would have kept for many more weeks or months. By the way, what variety are you growing? I have tried Alabaster, Giant Prague and Monarch, none of which ever seem to grow very large; usually not much bigger than a tennis ball. Although they taste good their size means there is an awful lot of wastage after preparation.
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Primrose
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Thanks for that Fred. I've been growing Monarch in two different locations. The bulbs in my vegetable patch are about the size of tennis balls - nowhere near the large bulbs which you can occasionally buy in good supermarkets. I had about a dozen surplus seedlings which I dotted around in a south facing border in front of my row of tomatoes and climbing beans. Most of these plants have developed bulbs twice the size of those in the veggie patch. Both sites have been well manured and watered so I'm completely at a loss to know why they have performed better.
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Johnboy
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Hi Primrose,
If you have the room for a plunge bed you can lift all the existing plants,
reduce the amount of root and simply plant them back in say just one corner of your plot. They will survive and will forever be fresh as you simply pull them (easy because of the reduced root) when required.
I somehow think that they would deteriorate in anything dry.
JB.
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Colin_M
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Anyone care to recommend some varieties which grow to the size that you see in the shops?
sally wright
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Dear Colin,
the secrets of growing large celeriac are not down to the variety but the length of the growing season you can provide. What this means is that the seeds should be sown now and pricked out into cells. Around the beginning of April they should be potted on into 3-4" pots and grown on before planting out in late May. Then they should be treated to the best spot in the garden where they have the richest soil and watered VERY freely and fed the same way. Growmore at potato rates (@ 6oz/M2) to start with and switch to tomato feed by July (or rose food same stuff but works out a lot cheaper than liquid tom food) .
The main point is that the plants should be as big as you can get them before planting. This is the only realistic way of copying the long growing season that the ones from the med regions that you buy in the shops get. I had very good ones this year (thieves thought so too so I had to dig them up ).
Regards Sally WRight.
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Johnboy
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Oh Sally,
Your last sentence makes my blood boil!!!
JB.
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Primrose
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Sally - thanks for that advice. I sowed my celeriac seed this week so hopefully will get it off to a good start. There seems to be some truth in what you said about letting the seedlings get as big as possible before planting out because the surplus ones I planted out later in a separate border did much better than the earlier planting. Sorry your plants got nicked. This infuriates me too. If only the thieves could understand how much effort goes into growing things and how gutting it is when your plants are stolen.
sally wright
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Dear JB,
there was only a couple nicked but I know from experience that once this sort of thing starts it goes on. Someone had had 1/2 a row of parsnips and also a whole row of leeks as well. During the summer I lost masses of beans and courgettes although I am not too worried about that as I grow FAR more than I can possibly use.
You know; I would happily share, swop and GIVE away produce (and do), but I cannot stand thieving.I But hey-ho there is no fence around the plots and a public footpath down either side so stealing is inevitable. I just try to grow enough to cover all eventualities and attempt to discourage the s@*s. The council has cleared a lot of trees surrounding the plots so they are now more visible and there are better sight lines so this trouble might diminish (though with the credit crunch I doubt it).
Regards Sally Wright.
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Colin_M
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Thanks for the advice Sally.

Also, maybe it's worth me leaving a nice border of nettles round my plot to deter casual theives (not that our allotment committee gestapo would let me get away with that :D :D )
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Johnboy
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Dear Sally,
Even commercial growers suffer from planned thieving. For commercial growing I used to sow Brassicas in modules of 216 and one Saturday night I had 40 trays pinched. Apart from the fact that this was part of a large order the trays cost £5.50. each with a minimum order of 200.
Thankfully the police caught the culprits flogging my plants at a Car Boot Sale in the local town the following morning. I got all the trays back and the vast majority of the plants. The culprits only got their wrists slapped by the local magistrate which made me furious. To me that was the worst part. They didn't even get a fine!
Luckily they have never been back!
JB.
PS, What I forgot to say was that rather than opening an unlocked door they used a stanley knife to go through it!
sally wright
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Dear Colin,
just make sure that you tell them they are for nettle soup!
Regards Sally Wright.
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peter
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Or an eco-strip to encourage beneficial insects. :wink:
Do not put off thanking people when they have helped you, as they may not be there to thank later.

I support http://www.hearingdogs.org.uk/
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Colin_M
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Mmmmm
I think I'd probably get away with "defence against the Allotment Inspectors" in the local council court.

These guys send me letters telling my plot needs weeding.....
I already know that!
I think they have too much time on their hands!!

Anyway, I have bought some Celeriac seed today and will report progress later in the season.
sally wright
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just bringing this back up to the top of the list for those in need of growing tips for the beasties.
Sally Wright
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