Gigante Dorato & Giant Red Reselection
For a full year I've been trialing celery seeds, trying to figure out what time of year is most ideal to grow celery in Kihei.
In the late spring I planted Gigante Dorato and Giant Red Reselection seeds. They've been growing through the summer months, the most challenging time of year. They grew beautifully in the heat of summer, defying all logic as celery is normally a cool season vegetable.
Gigante Dorato is an Italian golden celery available from Seeds From Italy. Giant Red Reselection is available from Wild Garden Seed. The Giant Red stalks were tinged with burgundy red and probably develop much deeper reds in cooler climates. I'll definitely keep Giant Red and Gigante Dorato growing in my garden year round.
Red celeries are more commonly grown in Europe. They have stronger flavors and can be somewhat bitter when eaten raw. The red celery hearts are used in salads but the celery stalks are predominately used for cooking.
I usually let celery grow as a cut and come again plant - it's so convenient to use it fresh from the garden.
