Celeriac - Would You Eat Something This Ugly?

This looks God-awful, doesn't it?  Maybe not quite as intimidating of an initial bite as the brave soul who first sampled an oyster, but unappetizing-looking nevertheless.  But after you cut away the rough exterior (no peeler I've found seems to work), the interior white flesh has all the pleasant taste of celery, and none of the strings.  And did you know that the stalk of the lush, showy, parsley-esque foliage can be cut and used as a straw?  I'm thinking really tasty Bloody Marys!

I like growing celeriac, and the chef certainly appreciates it (give him a root veggie, any root veg, and he goes to town on it).  The downside to it is that it takes FOREVER from seed to harvest.  My last batch I sowed in flats in the greenhouse a year ago January, and we were picking it from August through the last harvest, which was when the above picture was taken, on January 19th.  From 8 months to a whole year!  One of the nice things about celeriac is that you can harvest it and store the bulbs for two or three months.  We don't do that here; we fresh pick Manresa's celeriac and they use it immediately.

Also called celery root, the seeds are very tiny, and they can take up to three weeks to germinate.  They need to be kept constantly moist, which  makes it a challenge, as it is sometimes hard to be that vigilant.  That's the first reason I sow in flats rather than directly sow the seeds in the ground.  The second reason is that once germination happens, they are frustratingly slow to grow. They seem not to be doing anything for a long time, then you prick them out thinking they are way too small. Then they kind of sit there in their little pots not seeming to do much.  Finally one day you realize they're actually growing.  At that point you can happily transplant them out into your prepared bed, spacing them about six inches apart on all sides. Here is a newly planted bed:

Once the babies are safely tucked into their new bed, another wait is in order, about three months before you can harvest them.  It's perfectly fine, though, to start picking them once they are showing a couple of inch diameter bulb.  You'll be able to see the bulb poking up out of the soil.

The cultivar I use is called "Brilliant," and it's a biodynamically grown seed available from Turtle Tree Seeds.  They carry only biodynamic and organic seed of many old heirloom varieties.  Every time I order from them, I've been extremely pleased with both the health and vigor of the plants, as well as the taste.

I'd love to hear if any of you grow celeriac and what wonderful things you might do with it.