When to plant: Plant in April, directly into beds as they don’t like to be transplanted.

How to plant:
Start the seedlings
For succession plant fortnightly **Q Jude
Prepare beds with a deep forking, then rake surface to give a fine tilth. Sieve with 50mm mesh. Carrots are light feeders so no need to add compost or manure and are perfect to plant after tomatoes or corn.
Soak bed so seeds go into moist soil. Press a dowel to create a row 1cm deep, make rows 30cm apart.
Mix a packet of seeds with 1-2 cups of river sand and sprinkle mix thickly along the row.
Cover to keep moist until germination in 10 - 14 days.
Thin when plants are 5cm to a strong plant every 2-4 cm.

Care: Carrot are thirsty and need regular watering that penetrates to depth carrots are growing.
They benefit from a weekly weak solution of seaweed solution.
Main pest is carrot fly whose larvae eat the carrot root. Regular watering, fertilising and growing spring onions as a nearby companion helps deter pests. 

Harvest 12-18 weeks, when fruit show first blush of colour and ripen indoors

Troubleshooting:
• The main reason  root veggies don’t form is heavy soil. Tight soil structure doesn’t allow roots to form properly. The easiest way to fix this particular problem is to amend the growing medium with something like compost or sand.

Varieties
ORANGE CARROTS
Western Red  beta carotene, sweet earthy flavour, roast or eat raw.
Paris Market snack-sized round carrot:
St Valery: Grows to 20 cm sweet.
Kuroda: Vigorous & hardy suited to sub tropics, grows roots from 10-15cm.

PURPLE CARROTS: Black Nebula anthocyanins, peppery, crudités.
RED : Purple Dragon, lycopene similar in flavour to orange carrots, roast or eat raw.
YELLOW CARROTS: Yellow Lobbericher, lutein, sweeter than orange carrot, grows 25-30cm long, easy to grow, roast.
WHITE CARROTS: Lunar White. Antioxidant profile uncertain. Grows 20cm long. Very sweet, roast.

When to plant:  in  spring in cooler regions or autumn in warmer areas.

How to plant:
Fennel is best grown from seeds, direct sown in a full sun spot. Enriched the soil before sowing
Depth & space: Direct sow fennel seeds into prepared soil, allowing 20cm between plants.

Care: Keep the soil moist, but not soggy while the seeds germinate - which will take 7-14 days. Re-sow fennel seeds every 6-12 weeks for a continuous supply. 

Harvest: In 14-20 weeks, when Fennel bulbs are about the size of a tennis ball. Either pull the plant completely from the ground when ready to harvest or you can cut it off at ground level. 

Fennel fronds or leaves are also edible, just snip them off at any stage as your fennel grows - leaving enough fronds/leaves to support the plant's growth. 

Fennel flowers and seeds are also edible. Use fennel flowers to decorate cakes and salads. Or dry fennel seed heads and save the seeds to use in curries and other sweet or savoury dishes. 

Troubleshooting:
• Slugs and Snails will cause significant damage to fennel bulbs. Protect your fennel crop by setting beer traps (saucers filled with beer) or use slug & snail pellets.
• Excessive water can cause root rot and sudden plant death, avoid over watering and make sure your soil is free draining. 

Varieties
Fennel or Florence Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare dulce) produces crisp white bulbs, topped with fern like fronds - all parts of the plant (including the seeds) are edible and have a distinctive aniseed taste.
Bronze Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare ‘Purpureum’) - an ornamental fennel grown for its bronze/purple foliage that is also edible and flavourful

When to plant: March-April and August-September.
Celery is a cool season crop and is best grown in the moderate weather of spring to early summer.

How to plant:
Soak the seeds for 24 hours before planting
Simply sprinkle the seeds onto your soil, cover loosely, and water in. Celery is quite tricky to grow from seed, so unless you’re a very experienced gardener, rather plant seedlings. Celery seeds are really tiny, which makes them hard to sow evenly. Like carrots, they need to be thinned once they’re up. The easiest way to thin them is to use a small pair of scissors and simply cut away the unwanted seedlings. Cutting is a great way to remove any extra seedlings without disturbing the ones you plan to keep.

Care: Celery is a heavy feeder and likes rich, well-draining soil. Celery plants have exceptionally fine roots, so they need very light soil. Celery  needs quite a lot of sun to produce big plants and long stems. It needs at least 5-7 hours of sun a day, but will enjoy some afternoon shade.
Mulch your celery plants with a thick layer of organic mulch. This will help to keep their roots cool and moist. Lucerne, sugarcane and pea-straw are all good options.Water regularly to keep the soil moist. Celery likes moist soil, so don’t let it dry out.
Once the stalks reach a good size, tie them loosely and then wrap them in newspaper. Allow the leaves to sick out the top. You can harvest them 2-3 weeks later. The newspaper will protect them from the sun, and they should be pale when you harvest them.

Harvest After 11-12 weeks. Harvest one stalk at a time as needed. Simply pull the tops off the stalks down towards the soil to snap them off the plant or cut them at the base as you would for spinach.

Troubleshooting:

• Plants produce lots of leaves but not stalks; growth is slow. Sudden temperature fluctuations during early growth. Protect young plants from cold; use horticultural cloth or cloches when temperatures are low. Don’t plant too early.

• Bolting; plants flower and go to seed. Celery will bolt prematurely if plants are exposed to too many days with temperatures below 55°F. Protect young plants from cold; use horticultural cloth or cloches when temperatures are low. Don’t plant too early.

• Leaves turn yellow and then brown from the bottom up; plant loses vigor; plants appear stunted; worms bore into roots. Wireworms are the soil-dwelling larvae of click beetles; they look like wiry-jointed worms. Check soil before planting; flood the soil if wireworms are present. Remove infested plants and surrounding soil.

• Young stems chewed. Young earwigs feed on plant shoots and eat holes in foliage. Most often the damage is tolerable and the infestation is light. Heavy infestation use traps of rolled wet paper or old flowerpots stuffed with paper to catch earwigs at night. Dump them in soapy water. Keep garden free of plant debris. Spray with hot pepper and garlic repellent.

• Leaves curl under and become deformed and yellowish. Aphids are tiny, oval, and yellowish to greenish pear-shaped insects that colonize on the undersides of leaves. They leave behind sticky excrement called honeydew which can turn into a black sooty mold. Remove with a blast of water. Use insecticidal soap. Aluminum foil mulch will leave aphids disoriented.
• Tunnels or blotches in leaves. Leafminer larvae tunnel inside leaves. Destroy infected leaves and caterpillars. Cultivate the garden to destroy larvae and keep adult flies from laying eggs. Cover crops with floating row covers to exclude flies.
• Leaves folded under and webbed; holes chewed in leaves and stalks. Celery leaftier is a pale green caterpillar with a white stripe down its back that grows to ¾-inches long; the adult moth is small brown with dark wavy lines in its wings. Hand pick and destroy. Remove leaves which shelter caterpillar. Use Bacillus thuringiensis.
• Irregular small holes eaten in leaves. Cabbage looper is a light green caterpillar with yellow stripes running down the back; loops as it walks. Keep garden clean of debris where adult brownish night-flying moth can lay eggs. Cover plants with spun polyester to exclude moths. Pick loppers off by hand. Use Bacillus thuringiensis. Dust with Sevin or rotenone.
• Irregular holes in foliage and stems. Celeryworm is the grown and white larva of the black swallow-tail butterfly. Usually few are found. Pick off by hand. Spray with Bacillus thuringiensis (Dipel). Spray or dust with Sevin, pyrethrum, rotenone.
• Leaves are eaten and plants are partially defoliated. Blister beetles and tomato hornworms eat leaves. Handpick insects and destroy. Keep the garden weeds and debris. Cultivate in spring to kill larvae and interrupt the life cycle. Pick off beetles by hand. Spray or dust with Sevin or use a pyrethrum or rotenone spray.
• Large holes eaten in leave; trails of sliver slime. Snails and slugs prefer cool temperatures. Hand pick and destroy; place protective borders of sand, lime or wood ashes around plants. Mulch with wood shavings or oak leaves.
• Tips and leaf margins become streaked and look scorched. Magnesium deficiency. Have the soil tested. Use magnesium chelates. Plant resistant varieties: Emerson Pascal, Utah 52-75.
• Brown spots on leaves and stems; plants become stunted and die. Late blight of celery is caused by Septoria fungus a soil and seedborne disease triggered by heat and humidity following a rainy period. Keep the garden clean and free of weeds. Remove infected plants. Improve soil drainage.
• Yellow spots on outer leaves enlarge to become gray-brown streaks. Celery early blight or Cercospora leaf spot is a fungal disease spread by heavy rainfall and warm temperatures. Keep weeds down in the garden area; they harbor fungal spores. Avoid overhead watering.
• Plant turns pale green, yellows beginning on one side, yellowing spreads; stems rot; plant wilts. Fusarium wilt or stem rot is soilborne fungus that infects plant vascular tissue, usually where the soil is warm. Plant in well-drained soil. Rotate crops. Remove and destroy infected plants. Grow resistant varieties: Cornell No. 19.
• Mottled green and yellow leaves; zigzag bands may develop, distorted leaves. Mosaic virus has no cure; it is spread from plant to plant by aphids and leafhoppers. Plant resistant varieties. Remove diseased plants. Remove broadleaf weeds that serve as virus reservoir.
• Zigzag paths into crown and heart of celery. White with brown, legless grubs are the larvae of the carrot weevil, a dark crown to coppery, hard-shelled weevil to 1/5 inch long. Stunted plants Carrot weevil larvae are white grubs with dark heads that feed at the crown of celery.
• Twisted, brittle stalks; plants yellowed and stunted. Aster yellows is a mycoplasma disease spread by leafhoppers. Remove infected plants. Control leafhopper. Keep the garden free of weeds which can harbor disease.
• Inner stalks and leaves die at tips and turn brown or black. Blackheart associated with soil calcium deficiency. Calcium deficiency can inhibit uptake of water into plant. Increase watering and mulch to conserve soil moisture. Test soil; add gypsum or limestone if soil is calcium deficient. Maintain soil pH between 6.5 and 8.0. Plant resistant celery varieties: Cornell 19, Emerald, Emerson, Golden Pascal.
• Celery stems crack crosswise; stems are stiff and brittle; leaf edges may be streaked and brown. Boron deficiency, often found in alkaline soils. Test soil. If deficient, add 2 ounces of borax per 30 square yards. Plant resistant varieties of celery: Golden Self-Blanching, Dwarf Golden Self-Blanching, Giant Pascal, Utah 52-70.
• Central leaves turn dark. Similar to blackheart, but this is the work of the tarnished plant bug a greenish yellow to brown bug to ¼-inch long wit yellow triangle marks at the end of each wing. The tarnished plant bug sucks sap from plant causing tissue to break down; leaves at the center of the plant turn gray and black while outer stalks appear healthy.

Varieties
Celery 'Dorata D'Asti'
Celery 'Stringless'
Celeriac 'Verona'