Celery

Sigh, it is raining again. Yesterday was perfect. We had just returned from Ottawa and a delightful stroll through the Ottawa Tulip Festival. The rain kept us from the festival until the very end, when a day much like yesterday surprised us.

I love being outside feeling the sun, wind and yes, rain on my face. Walking is a wonderful way to get to know where you are and burn calories at the same time.

The light breeze calmed the sun's fierce heat to give us mid-twenty Celsius temperatures. A few small, off-white clouds enhanced the sky's blue.

An ideal day to be in a garden and enjoy the relaxing environment that interacting with plants can nurture. Gardening is a reciprocal relationship between garden and the gardener.

"A garden should feel like a walk in the woods." - Dan Kiley, American landscape designer-

The garden is where Nature and Society meet and where healing can begin.

Speaking of healing, before we return next week to food and right livelihood, let us spend some time with a common and dynamic plant--celery. Why celery?

Well I am making soup right now, thanks to my slow cooker. While we were away, the celery in the vegetable keeper went beyond eating raw but not yet ready for the compost pile. What to do? Make soup.

Recipe:

Chop the celery up in small pieces, add a pinch of celery seed. Use black pepper to taste. Add water to cover the celery. Turn your slow cooker on full. Add a cup of water after the stock has been boiling for 90 minutes. Bring stock to a boil and then turn crock pot to low. Let simmer for 2 hours and strain. Add celery to compost.

Now you have a basic celery broth. I usually add canned tomatoes, not only because I love the flavour, but also because they are healthy and that is a great combination, health and taste.

First Used as a Medicine

Celery (Apium graveolens) is believed to be the same plant as selinon, mentioned in Homer's Odyssey about 850 B.C. Our word "celery" comes from the French celeri, which is derived from the ancient Greek word. The old Roman names, as well as those in many modern languages, are derived from the same root word and sound remarkably similar. This indicates a rather recent wide distribution and use of celery.

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