Celery is one of the mainstays of the vegetable crisper. Like onions, carrots and potatoes, celery can seem quite seasonless, and certainly somewhere in the world, a field of celery is being harvested most any day of the year.
Local celery is not so ubiquitous. It’s a tough vegetable to grow in the metro Atlanta area because it needs a long, cool growing period in excellent soil with lots of nutrients. Celia Barss of Woodland Gardens, a certified organic market garden in Winterville, about 10 minutes from Athens, laughed when I called her for information on growing celery around here.
“You’re always asking me about the vegetables that are difficult to grow,” she said. It’s true, but that’s because Barss is known for pushing the envelope when it comes to what she offers her customers. Woodland Gardens sells its produce to restaurants and at the Morningside Farmers’ Market each Saturday morning and through a community supported agriculture program in the Athens area.
Celery is one of those things her customers won’t let her quit growing. “People are crazy about it. ‘Where’s the celery? Where’s the celery?’ they’ll ask and chefs love it, too,” Barss said. She credits her celery’s loyal fan base to the concentrated flavor of her greenhouse-grown celery.
“In fact, it’s so flavorful I find I can’t eat it as celery sticks, but cut up in a salad or cooked to season a dish, it’s amazing,” she said. She’s tried to stop growing celery because it’s such a labor-intensive crop, but customer outcry keeps it in the farm’s rotation. This fall and spring she’s been harvesting from about 400 celery plants.
Barss brings her celery to market as bundles of individual stalks. Big heads of celery are just not possible under her growing conditions. But by cutting off the outer stalks as the plants grow, she can provide her customers with a steady supply from fall into spring. The stalks come complete with all their leaves and so they look a lot like overgrown parsley.
She tells my customers to cut off the leaves which helps the stalks stay fresh longer, but those leaves should not go to waste. They can be chopped and added to any dish where celery flavor is wanted, and can be frozen for several months.
As a matter of fact, sautéing celery and then freezing it in recipe-size quantities is a great way to preserve any bounty you can’t use fresh, a good thing to remember when offered the chance to stock up while local celery is in season.
If you’d like to see how Woodland Gardens grows its celery and many other fruits, vegetables and flowers, sign up for the Morningside Farmers Market spring farm tour. On Sunday, May 6, tour goers will take a bus from the Morningside Market location and visit the Winterville farm. Tickets are $45 and reservations are required: morningsidefarmersmarket@gmail.com. Lunch from Athens’ acclaimed restaurant The National will be provided.
At local farmers markets
Cooking demos:
6 p.m. Thursday, April 19. Chef Seth Freedman, Ruby Root Connections. East Atlanta Village Farmer's Market, Atlanta. www.farmeav.com
9:30 a.m. Saturday, April 21. Chef Doug Turbush, SEED. Morningside Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.morningsidemarket.com
10 a.m. Saturday, April 21. Chef E. J. Hodgkinson, Woodfire Grill. Peachtree Road Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.peachtreeroadfarmersmarket.com
11:30 a.m. Sunday, April 29. Chef Todd Richards. Grant Park Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.grantparkmarket.org
For sale
Vegetables and fruit: arugula, Asian greens, asparagus, beets, cabbage, carrots, collards, dandelion, endive, escarole, frisée, green garlic, green onions, herbs, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, mache, oyster mushrooms, onions, pea shoots, radishes, spinach, sugar snap peas, strawberries, sweet potatoes, turnips
From local reports
Celery-Tofu Salad
Hands on: 15 minutes
Total time: 15 minutes plus resting time for chili oil
Serves: 4
The crunch of the celery is a great foil to the soft texture of tofu and the chili oil spices everything up. If you want to truly simplify this recipe, substitute store bought chili oil for the oil and spices given here. But making your own allows you to adjust the heat and spices to your liking.
1 cup canola oil
1/4 cup red pepper flakes
1 2-inch piece ginger, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns
3 cloves
6 ounces baked tofu, sliced 1/4-inch thick
6 stalks celery, cut into 1/4-inch pieces on the bias
In 2-cup measuring cup, combine oil, pepper flakes, ginger, cinnamon stick, peppercorns and cloves. Heat in microwave for 2 minutes on high heat. Carefully remove from microwave and allow to cool at least 1 hour. Strain oil into a small jar and discard spices.
When ready to serve, arrange tofu and celery on serving platter. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon chili oil and serve. Reserve remaining chili oil for another use.
Adapted from a recipe in the New York Times, August 4, 2010.
Per serving: 162 calories (percent of calories from fat, 84), 4 grams protein, 3 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 16 grams fat (1 gram saturated), no cholesterol, 55 milligrams sodium.
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