Celery - The "Not-So" Negative Calorie Vegetable

Celery is a member of the Parsley family and is perhaps the most difficult vegetable to grow in our community garden areas, this long-season crop must be started inside. Seeds are slow to germinate, and if transplanted outside too early, plants will bolt in response to the cold.

Celery requires consistent moisture and dislikes heat, and as such, requires a lot of attention. However, celery is easily regrown from your kitchen scraps. There are multiple videos and tutorials available to help you and your children reduce, reuse, and recycle your leftover produce.

A widely held belief that Celery is a negative calorie food is actually false. Celery when consumed raw provides positive calories, although, our digestive tract only consumes a small proportion of the calories taken in.

Celery is low in saturated fat, and very low in cholesterol. It is also a good source of vitamin A (10%), vitamin K (40%), and Folate (10%). Celery has been rated at a 1 on the glycemic scale for a 1 cup serving size.

Celery plants are shallow-rooted and require consistent moisture. Lack of water will make stalks fibrous and bitter. Mulch to retain moisture, suppress weeds and avoid disturbing roots when cultivating.