Celery seed Apium graveolens

LATIN NAME: Apium graveolens

COMMON NAME: Celery

Celery grows slowly and steadily, and the good soup pots of the world know why. The sturdy, upright, biennial plant carries the crisp, ridged leaf stalks and the divided, bright-green leaves, and the small, white flowers open in the flat, umbel-like heads in the second season, to be followed by the small, brown, aromatic seeds. The plant is one of the old, dependable crops of the kitchen garden, and the stalks and the seeds carry a very long record of use in the soups, the stews and the spice cupboards. It is a plant of the deep, rich, moist, well-drained ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The celery is an old and patient subject of the plant science, studied for the crisp leaf stalks and the small, aromatic seeds. The chemistry of the stalks and the seeds, which carry the compounds of the old kitchen and the old practice, has been looked at closely, and it keeps showing up in the work on the vegetable breeding, the aromatic seeds and the members of the carrot family. The divided leaves and the sturdy, upright habit have also made it a fine garden plant, and the celery is a regular subject of the studies of the old crops of the temperate kitchen garden.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The celery is a slow, dependable crop with a long record in the kitchens and the soup pots. The crisp, ridged stalks are the fine base of the soups, the stews, the stocks and the salads of the world, and the small, brown seeds are a steady presence of the spice cupboards, used in the pickles, the salts and the old remedies. The plant is also a fine, generous presence of the kitchen garden, standing the cool season well. It has been written up in the culinary and the botanical papers for the crisp stalks and the aromatic seeds, and it is a fine, long-lived crop of the deep, rich, moist, well-drained garden.

Celery is one of the old, dependable crops of the kitchen garden, and the crisp, ridged stalks are the fine base of the soups, the stews, the stocks and the salads of the world. The small, brown seeds are a steady presence of the spice cupboards.

To grow the celery from seed, sow the fine seeds over the surface of a tray of loose, free-draining soil, covering them very lightly, keep the tray in a bright, sheltered spot and water gently, then set the young plants out in the rich ground. The seedlings push through within a couple of weeks and grow on slowly. With the moisture and the deep, rich, well-drained ground, the crisp stalks will be ready through the cool season.

Uses: Culinary/Medicinal

has a sweet crunchy flavour that is far superior to celery，The stalks grow 11 inches tall and are superb for celery sticks or salad.

Long used as a mild diuretic and urinary antiseptic. The volatile oil in Apium has been shown to have antifungal activity, and it is active against many bacteria including some strains of Staphylococcus and Streptococcus. Caution: Should be avoided by pregnant women or anyone with kidney disorders.