We have tomatoes, miniconcumbers and lettuce by all year round. However, a very popular food for lunch boxes, celery, is only offered for a short period. Can we dream of this vegetable plant all year round?
“Where can we find socially acceptable celery?” “Asked Stéphane Desjardins, reader of the” Reduis local “section published every Thursday.
Know that there is indeed Celery culture in Canada: Quebec and Ontario are the producing provinces. According to the calendar of the availability of Quebec fruits and vegetables offered on the Eater Quebec site, we can find in our displays the celery by mid-July until mid-November. The root, celery-radius, is ready to be harvested in mid-August, until mid-November.
Consult the Death Quebec website
The rest of the year, the harvests of the United States and Mexico are offered in the squirts of the grocers. As Mr. Desjardins indicated to us, it is easy to fall back on Mexican celery by relying on the packaging. However, if the indications are not clear, he prefers to abstain, as the trend of the moment concerns American products.
A greenhouse culture not so simple
Companies specializing in greenhouse culture are unanimous: the culture of celery in greenhouse all year round would not be profitable.
According to Valérie Terrault, Sales Director and Gen V culture marketing, even if it is possible to grow well food, as exotic as bananas and figs, the problem with certain vegetables, is that they take a lot of time to push in greenhouse.
As a producer, the profitability in fruits or vegetables is measured per square meter over a given period. With the growth time and the number so high of harvests, the price would therefore be very high and far from being competitive with the celery of the fields.
Valérie Terrault, Sales and Marketing Director of Cultures Gen V
Similar bell sound in the children of the Earth, a producer located in Mont-Laurier, in the Hautes-Laurentides: the company, specialized in the cultivation of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, ginger and turresses in greenhouse, estimates that, even if its customers have a strong craze for local vegetables during the summer and fall, the interest tends to decrease at the end of autumn.
The cultures she advocates are strategic, because “they [lui] make it possible to optimize profitability in a Nordic context, while meeting the real demand of [sa] Local clientele ”, according to Joelle Lafrenière, co -owner of children on the earth.
“We do not cultivate celery and it is not a culture that we plan to introduce in the short term in our company,” says Mr.me Lafrenière.
Known for its organic baskets, Lufa farms, on the other hand, cultivate celery in small quantities in their inner farm, “especially when it fits well in the culture cycle,” said spokesperson Emily Péloquin. “It is not a large-scale production for the moment,” she continues.
“The plant grows slowly, takes a lot of space and offers a low yield compared to other cultures,” explains Mme Péloquin.
Food autonomy
This whole question leads us to think about our food autonomy and what we are ready to make to leave a greater room for local agriculture. The co-owner of children of the land Joelle Lafrenière opens the door to us: “Are we ready, as a company, to make room for more local agricultural production, even when this implies different choices-like paying a little more, adapting our habits or reviewing our consumption calendar? »»
Consumers decide whether to embark on the train or not.
The virtues of celery
Celery is a food rich in vitamin K, which intervenes mainly in blood clotting and the maintenance of the health of bones and tissues. It contains beneficial antioxidants against cancer, is rich in dietary fiber and low in calories.
