It’s worth producing celery microgreens just for the flavour. Despite the fact that it is a tiny crop for commercial growers, it is a unique and zesty crop that is frequently a hit with chefs and home cooks. Celery requires patience at every stage, but it does not disappoint in the end.
This underrated vegetable is a common ingredient in many soups and a key component in French mirepoix and Cajun and Creole cooking. However, most of us associate celery with tuna fish salad. It’s known as “cutting celery” in microgreen circles, and it’s appreciated for the characteristic celery flavour in its slender stems and delicate, light-green quarter-sized leaves. Celery microgreen looks like a delicate variant of coriander microgreen when it is young.
If Like to know more about microgreens, check these articles:
 <<What Are Microgreens >> and  <<Best Microgreens For Smoothies>>
History of celeryÂ
Celery is a Mediterranean vegetable that is supposed to have originated there. It’s difficult to say for sure because native variations have been identified from Asia Minor to the southern tip of South America. It’s been discovered in Egyptian tombs, worn by Greek athletes, and used medicinally by people worldwide. Celery microgreen seed was used in Ayurvedic medicine for everything from colds to arthritis. Wild celery’s unpleasant bitter taste was tamed by cultivation, and it began to be regarded as a culinary asset. Celery had made its way into the soups and broths of England, Italy, and France by the early eighteenth century.
 Celery microgreens overview
Family | Apiaceae |
Recommended Varieties | Utah, Standard Cutting Celery |
Nutrition | Vitamins A, B, C, and E and the minerals calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, and amino acids |
Average days to germinate | 5 to 7 days |
Average days to harvest (after germination) | 14 to 17 days |
Average weight per tray | 2 to 4 ounces |
Difficulty | Easy to medium |
Micro Celery Nutrition
Celery microgreens are useful for more than just flavouring food. They are packed with vitamins and minerals. Vitamins A, B, C, and E and the minerals calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, and amino acids are abundant in micro celery.
How to grow celery microgreens
Celery should be sown in rows. Utah celery microgreens and Standard Cutting Celery microgreens are the best celery varieties to cultivate as microgreens. Celery takes 9 to 14 days to germinate. Allow it to grow until it reaches the true leaf stage, around 3 to 4 inches tall. In three to four weeks, harvest them as a microgreen. It takes a long time, but the flavour and delicacy of celery chopping are well worth the wait. The celery microgreen growing process is similar to other kinds of microgreens. Read the <<Â Growing Microgreens with Kids>> article to learn more about the growing process of microgreens.
Celery microgreens Growing TipsÂ
Celery microgreens take a long time to mature. It can take a long time to germinate and mature. It is a crop you will want to cultivate to the full leaf stage because of its tiny cotyledons.
Celery is a sensitive crop that is readily stunted. It can turn yellow and stop growing if the ideal circumstances are not met. Maintain a steady temperature and the pH of less than 7 for celery. The towel approach works effectively because of the small seed size.
Towel approach
Cloth or paper towels might be used instead of soil to cover the area. While people do not utilize this strategy to cover most large seeds, it works wonders for smaller seeds. A moisture blanket can be created by draping a towel over your sown trays. Place your light cotton or paper towel immediately on top of your seeds. Once the seeds are in situ, keep them moist until they germinate.
The towels have all of the advantages of soil covering but none of It’s disadvantages. This strategy can save both time and money. Towels allow you to check on the growth of your germinating seeds daily. Children can look under the towel and see the seeds slowly open and grow into plants, which can be amusing.Â
Harvesting Tips
Celery microgreens should be harvested as near to the soil as possible. Celery micros are small in size and light in weight. To ensure that you are harvesting the whole seedling with its actual leaf, cut below the cotyledons.
Washing Tips
Put your glasses on for this microgreen—celery micros are tiny and often cling to their seed hulls. Getting all of the small red celery seed hulls out of your wash water can be difficult. Patience and a keen eye are required for this crop. It is suggested that you use a two-stage washing process with some extra rinses.
Possible Challenges
If the pH is higher than 7, growth may be slowed, and yellowing may result.
Conclusion
In brief, celery is a Mediterranean vegetable that is supposed to have originated there. Celery microgreen is a unique crop popular among chefs and home cooks alike. It is a slow grower, but it satisfies in the end. Celery microgreens seeds are tiny, so microgreen growers usually use the towel method for celery micros. It contains notable amounts of vitamins A, B, C, and E and the elements (minerals) potassium, zinc, phosphorus, calcium, iron, and amino acids.
References:
- Gilbertie, S. (2015). Cooking with Microgreens the Grow-Your-Own Superfood. Countryman Press.
- Franks, E., & Richardson, J. (2009). Microgreens.