Rain Gardens and Growing Celeriac

THE GOOD EARTH

Rain Gardens or Flood Mitigation.

Rain isn’t always reliable so rather than letting it flow into the stormwater especially when there’s a deluge, there are ways to let slow the water. 

Of course there’s rainwater tanks, but you may need more than what they can hold.
You need to change your thinking and work out a way to keep water in your garden longer.
Let’s find out more.
I'm talking with Celeriac Margaret Mossakowska, director of www.mosshouse.com.au


Slowing the rush of water when there’s a deluge, will prevent your drains from backing up and possibly flooding your house.

• You can create rain gardens, wetlands or bog gardens.

If you have a spot in your garden where water likes to gather after rain, that's a good spot to create a bog garden.  It doesn't have to be any deeper than 10cm.

There are many Australian natives that would suit to grow in a bog garden.

Plants that suit for this situation are 

Marsh Flower (Villarsia exaltata), 

Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), 

Tassel Sedge (Carex fascicularis), 

Jointed Twig-rush (Baumea articulata) and Water Ribbons (Triglochin procerum).

Rain gardens are a filtering garden and aim to slow water from leaving your property.

Think of all that water gushing out of your downpipe going to the storm water, when instead, it could be passing through a rain garden.

Choose any container, such as half a rainwater tank, or any sort of large plastic container.

Have an overlow at least half way up rather than letting the soil at the top float away.

Put in lots of sand at the bottom with soil/compost on top. The rain should just percolate through this soil rather than rushing down the drain.
Reed and native grasses suit to be planted in this type of garden.
There’s a choice of rain gardens or bog gardens, it’s up to you.
If you want to know more or if you have any questions about reed beds, rain gardens or flood gardens, why not email realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR P.O. Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

VEGETABLE HEROES

Celeriac

• Ever heard of the ugly duckling of the vegetable world?

I could think of several but Celeriac or Apium graveolens var rapaceum has been described as the ugly duckling of vegetables, or just plain ugly.

But if you don’t think of vegetables as pretty or ugly, don’t be put off by all that talk because it’s pretty useful to have in your garden.

• Celeriac is closely related to celery even though it looks nothing like it.
• The early Greeks called celeriac, selinon and it’s mentioned in Homer's Odyssey in 800 B.C., That means, Celeriac has been grown as an edible plant for thousands of years.

Celeriac looks like it might be the root of something, but it actually is the swollen stem.

The usual size you see in the supermarket is roughly 10cm, a very pale brown, rough, almost acne’ed looking ball with lime green tops.

• Celeriac, like many "roots", is a long-season, cool-weather crop;

The green tops look a bit like celery, and the smell is similar but a bit stronger.

The thick, rough brownish skin covers a creamy white, crisp inside that’s slightly hotter tasting than celery.

Celeriac also grows more easily and keeps longer than celery, making it an excellent winter vegetable.

You also don’t have to do any of that blanching the stems as they’re growing like you do with celery.

• When to grow it?

In sub-tropical areas you can sow the seed in March, April and August.

In arid areas, you’ll have to wait until next Spring and in most other regions of Australia, you can sow the seed in Spring, Summer and Autumn, except for the tropics. It’s not really suited to that region.

But should you be listening somewhere in tropical Qld, and have grown Celeriac, please drop us a line about your success.

• Celeriac is best planted at soil temperatures between 8°C and 21°C. Hot summers won’t suit this plant. Wait until this hot weather takes a break or  start the seeds off in punnets.
• Tip:Celeriac seeds are a bit hard to germinate, but if you soak the seeds in a saucer of water with a splash of seaweed solution, this will help the germination rate.

Like a lot of members of the Celery family, Celeriac likes soil that has plenty of organic compost and manures, otherwise, it’ll bolt to seed.

If you start your Celeriac seed in punnets, you can control the moisture content of the mix more easily rather than in the garden bed. Transplant when there’s at least 4 leaves.

Celeriac loves wet soil. You can’t water it too much, and a thick layer of mulch will help in keeping the soil moist and keeping out the weeds, unlike in this picture.

• If you don’t water it enough you might get hollow roots or the plant will bolt to seed.
• Keep the weeds down as well because celeriac doesn’t compete well with weeds,  but don’t disturb its shallow roots.
• As the root develops, snip off side roots and hill the soil over the developing root.
• Side dressing periodically during the growing season with an organic fertilizer high in nitrogen, like chook poo, is also helpful, but don't overdo it, otherwise you’ll get lots of leaf, rather than root, growth.

Easy Does It: Take It Slow

Celeriac is slow-growing, taking around seven months from seed to  maturity (that is, about four months from transplanting), although the root is edible at any earlier stage.

• The longer you leave celeriac in the garden, the larger the root gets; some say they don’t really get woody when large, while others say dig them up when they’re small (10cm diameter).
• And again, some say celeriac is frost-tender, while others say a few light frosts won't bother it. I’ve heard that "celeriac increases in flavour after the first frost.

You can leave them in the ground over-winter, harvesting as you need them..

• One other thing, some recommend drawing soil up around the stems in early autumn, to blanch them; but that’s entirely up to you and I tend not to bother.
• When it grows, the swollen Celeriac stem tends to push itself out of the soil, sitting just a few centimetres of soil level.
  

If it doesn’t do that for you, you might have to give it a helping hand, and scrape away some of the soil towards the end of the growing season.

• Apart from the long growing season, pests don’t seem to like Celeriac, so a bonus. No spraying needed.

What do you do with this vegetable?

Whatever you do with potato you can do with celeriac.

You can also eat it raw. –can grate it or cut it into thin strips or cubes, and to serve it as a salad seasoned with a dressing.

Celeriac can also be cooked, either on its own or together with other vegetables.

It makes a good puree mixed with potatoes, but best of all, it makes a non-starch substitute for potatoes.

Why is it good for you?

Raw celeriac is an excellent source of potassium and a good source of vitamin C, phosphorus, vitamin B6, magnesium and iron.

Cooked celeriac is a good source of potassium and contains vitamin C, phosphorus, vitamin B6, and magnesium.

Celeriac is said to be diuretic, demineralising, and a tonic, and stimulates the appetite and cleanses the system

AND THAT WAS OUR VEGETABLE HERO SEGMENT FOR TODAY!