Alright, grab your wellies and a sturdy pair of garden shears, because we’re going celery picking! Yes, you heard that right – celery. Forget the sad, floppy supermarket sticks for a moment. In the Netherlands, several pick-your-own farms (pluktuinen) offer this crunchy, upright, and surprisingly beautiful vegetable. There’s something deeply satisfying about walking up to a row of celery, spotting a firm, crisp outer stalk of 20–30 cm, and giving it a satisfying snap at the base. Leave the inner stalks and the heart in place so the plant can keep growing. If the farm lets you take a whole plant, cut it with a sharp knife 2–3 cm above the soil. Celery season runs from July to October; the plants do not survive frost, so come before mid-October. Pick in the cool morning or late afternoon to keep the stalks from wilting. The stalks will still have a bit of soil on them, and maybe a ladybug hitchhiker – that’s the good stuff.
Once you’ve wrestled your haul home, don’t let it wilt in the back of the fridge. Wrap it in a damp paper towel in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer, or stand the stalks in a jar of water, and it keeps for one to two weeks. Wash the stalks just before use (those crunchy grooves hide dirt!). You now have a vegetable that is a champion of both crunch and flavor.
Two Cooking Recipes
1. Celery & Blue Cheese Waldorf Salad (The Classic, Grown Up) Dice three or four stalks of your freshly picked celery into half-inch pieces. Toss in a bowl with a chopped apple (leave the skin on for color), a handful of halved red grapes, and a scattering of toasted walnuts. Crumble over a generous amount of creamy blue cheese (Gorgonzola is perfect). For the dressing, whisk together two tablespoons of Greek yogurt, one tablespoon of mayonnaise, a squeeze of lemon juice, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Pour over the salad, mix gently, and let it sit for ten minutes. The celery stays perfectly snappy against the creamy, tangy dressing.
2. Cream of Celery Soup (The Comfort Bowl) This is a soup that actually tastes of celery, not just celery-flavored water. Roughly chop a whole head of celery (leaves and all!), one onion, and two potatoes. Sauté the onion and celery in butter for about 10 minutes until softened and fragrant. Add the potato and enough vegetable stock to just cover everything. Simmer for 20 minutes until the potato is tender. Blend until silky smooth, then stir in a good splash of cream (or full-fat milk). Season with salt, a ton of white pepper, and a grating of nutmeg. Serve with crusty bread and maybe some crispy fried celery leaves on top for a textural pop.