The area I grew up in was farm country. My Dad was a dairy farmer and there were a lot of them around. The area was also home to lots of farmers growing onions and celery. You have to have the right kind of dirt for that. I don't know the official name, but we called it muck. It's heavy black soil that holds moisture well.
When I was in high school, I worked on one of those celery farms. We worked starting in the green house in the Spring, lots of hours in the summer and then through October.
Last week I drove past the farm and they were out planting celery. The celery is first planted as a tiny seedling in the greenhouse, then when the threat of freezing is past, they are transplanted to the fields.
I put in many hours on a celery planter, but they've improved them since then. When I was working, there were just 2 people on the planter and we each had a tray of little seedlings in front of us. There were usually a few on the back that we would get if we used the first tray, but nothing like you see here. There is a little wheel with pockets that goes into the ground and each pocket gets a seedling put in it and as it goes around the seedling is planted.
I was working with people I enjoyed, and once you learned how to do it, you could talk as you worked. They even had a clear plastic covered box that could go over the people so you could work in the rain.
Here's a picture that shows what the celery looks like once the field is planted. Isn't it pretty?
Around July they start harvesting. A picker fills a wagon with celery and it's brought to the packing barn where we would trim and sort it into like sizes and then crate it.
Good memories for me! And, as I live near this, I get to enjoy this sight often.
29 comments:
Mari, thank you 😊 for sharing your story and good memories ❤️ The celery field does look pretty and neat. I guess it is easier doing the work now, but I am glad you have such wonderful memories of this.
Wait? You have muck in Michigan? I live in a county in Ohio where the southern farmlands are called the mucklands. When I worked for the extension office we would host Muck Crop Seminars. We would have visiting farmers from the Netherlands (where there are lots of mucklands) who would contact our office for tours, etc. People think we are crazy when we talk about the muck. And the color! You have to see that pure black to believe it.
Unfortunately our mucklands had a problem in the 90's with celery. Something or other (I am not a farmer) got into the soil and they can't grow celery anymore! But it did not affect the other crops.
During Covid the crops kept growing and the farms adapted. Orders for restaurants were down so they began to offer weekly boxes of fresh vegetables that you could purchase curbside. Living between the muck to the south and a commercial dairy with curbside pickup to the north was a lucky place to live.
Very pretty. I love both celery and onions. I also like to take the ends of celery put it in water and then watch the greens come up and then eat those! So good.
That’s interesting, Mari. I remember you saying you had worked on a celery farm. I just bought some celery today. I’m craving lentil soup.
Hi Mari. This was a very interesting post! Wow, if you planted celery when you were young, you know how to work hard. Farm work is hard work. One of our granddaughters got a summer job picking cherries, and she said it wore her out every day. Thanks for this informative post! The rows of celery plants look beautiful!
Wow, I have never seen a field of celery.
There’s something so enduring and honest in the rhythm of farm life, and it’s heartening to hear how those early days among rows of celery still bring both pride and peace
This is interesting! We have many fields around here, but I don't think I have ever seen a celery field. The dirt around here would not be any good for it. This is such a large field, and very pretty!
I like celery. It feels so healthy! It does look very pretty: those neat rows of celery.
The picture of the field is beautiful. I did not know you were growing celery in your area. It is such a big field of celery compared to ours in France! We don’t grow celery in my area but lots of apples and I worked as a student picking apples. Thank you for sharing!
it is beautiful and for some reason, I have never even thought about how celery would grow or where and how it looks growing. Daddy grew a lot of veggies but never celery. Mother always had celery in the fridge. interesting Muck story.. thanks for sharing it
So pretty.
I am familiar with farming memories and Mari, those memories are one I cherish, working for my grandfather. To see a field like these in your photos, of straight growing mounds of healthy plants, makes me very happy. so very pretty!! Thanks for sharing your memories and for sharing this beautiful land.
So I grew up in the suburbs, but when I met my husband, from a small town in the country, I learned about these things...he showed me the muck farms where onions are grown, I had never heard of such a thing. There are muck farms up in Oswego, and in Port Byron, Savannah...it is dark and beautiful soil. It's cool that you worked planting celery. My oldest daughter worked at one of the strawberry farms when she was between years of nursing school, she drove a big truck and delivered fresh strawberries to stores. :)
What precious memories you have, Mari. I'm friends with a dairy farmer's wife in northern Wisconsin. We've been friends for many years now. The stories she tells are amazing, much like yours here. I love it! ~Andrea xoxo
Mari, what an enjoyable post. I learned more about you and also how celery is grown. That's amazing to look at those pictures and realize that all of that green is actually individual celery plants.
Until I "met" you here in blogland, I never thought of fields of celery and how it is planted and harvested. My dad never planted celery in his garden so it was foreign to me. Thanks for the education! The planted field is very pretty. I look forward to seeing it in person one day!!
Very interesting! I never really thought much about how celery was grown. I used to spend a lot of time on my aunt and uncle's farm in upstate NY. I don't remember much of what they planted but I remember the tomatoes!
Its so easy to forget all the hard physical labor that goes into getting it to the store finally. Thanks for sharing this . The green looks so delicious.
Sue
An emerald field...gorgeous! I recall you saying you worked on a celery farm, it sounds like you have some fun memories.They grow corn in my neck of the woods. Tons of it...and it's delicious. I'm curious about your dad's farm. What happened to it? Is it still an operational dairy farm? Did they sell the land and build on it? I always wonder about farms since it's such hard work, at the whim of the weather and seems like a shrinking industry/ lifestyle here in the US...nice to see the celery farm thriving!
Lovely photographs and good memories for you :)
I do enjoy celery ... must remember to add it to my shopping list!
All the best Jan
Farmers have such hard work. Kudos to you for working the celery fields. I did not know though it was a such a short growing season. Do they plant more after they harvest the first bunch? Janice
That''s a lot of hard work. I've never seen a celery farm before. I'm thankful for all the farmers. So many people take where their food comes for granted!!
So many times driving in the country we try to guess what is growing in the fields. I never thought celery though! I guess I didn't realize we grew it here in Michigan! That's an interesting job to have had as a teenager!
I love celery. That farm was just beautiful. Nice black soil and green celery. How does it come so clean if it is grown in the dirt like that - inquiring minds want to know.
This is so cool! And I love hearing your history with it. I think that would be a really fun job - but I'm also a gardener at heart. 😉 And I agree - celery is so pretty. What an amazing colorscape 💚
Wow, it must grow really fast if it is ready to be harvested in July.
I need to show these pictures to Dick. As you know, his dad was a celery farmer. That was their life. He smelled like celery when we first got to know each other, because he had been getting celery ready for market. So celery is kind of a romantic fragrance to me, haha!
Mari I know that with your excellent work ethic, that job suited you to a T! And I also think that, like a young person going into the military, a young person working on a farm has the potential and great probability of being totally life-changing! So basic and valuable! I like to think of myself as a hard worker but in gentler ways, hahahaha! Love your pictures and I completely understand your nostalgia. xoxo
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