A single seed produced this large plant.

I decided to grow a new variety of celery called Chinese white celery from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds in the US. This surprisingly vibrant and delicious vegetable is something completely out of the ordinary for me, and I look forward to growing it again and again.

Tender white stalks

This particular variety of celery is grown for the stalks. So, it doesn't actually produce a large root, like celeriac. The majority of celery varieties you can buy here in Sweden need to go pale in order for the stalks to grow nice and tender. Or, they produce green or red stalks that are quite thick and sturdy. The stalks turn out great some years, but I sometimes feel like I could just as well use the celeriac stalks instead.

Read more: Smashed celery root

The main part of the plant is a large bundle of white stalks. Slightly thinner than the celery stalks we buy in the store.

This all changed when I found this particular variety though. Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds describe it like this:

A delicate and delicious Chinese variety with snow-white stalks. White celery has been cultivated in the Chinese town of Liyang for over 800 years. Stems are long, slender and hollow, with strong celery flavor, ideal for Asian soups and stews, but equally suitable for mirepoix and other recipes calling for celery.

The plant is around 31 inches tall (0.8 meters). The stalks vary in size. I didn't use the leaves though, I don't really like them very much!

Beautiful white stalks

The picture shows one single plant of the white Chinese celery. It was so large! I think it weighed around 4.5 pounds (ca. 2 kg) actually. The plant consists of one main, large bundle of celery as well as several side shoots that grow along the main stalk.

The stalks are completely white. All of them. Hollow, tender and absolutely delicious. I decided to ferment the entire plant actually, and it turned out great!

How to grow Chinese white celery

• sow early in the year
• don't cover the seeds with soil, simply press down on the seeds
• re-plant once in spring
• plant them outside in May
• use mulch as fertilizer

Stalk celery is the perfect ingredient in stews and soups. I often use it for stock and vegetable salts too. If you really like celery, you might also be interested in putting them into smoothies or making celery juice. Or why not add a few fresh stalks for your salads? My best tip is actually to put celery stalks in fish stew. It's so good! You can freeze your celery too if you happen to grow a bit too much. Cut in smaller pieces and freeze raw.
/Sara Bäckmo