Celery is a stimulating, nourishing, and restorative herb. Celery has properties that help remove toxins from the body and is an effective urinary tonic. Celery reduces the severity of gout by increasing uric acid excretion. This vegetable also lowers blood pressure, stimulates milk flow, and relieves arthritis pain.

Celery seeds contain many of the same properties as the plant. Celery seeds are cleansing, relaxing, diuretic, and a remedy for urinary tract infections. Eating celery seeds can help reduce the degeneration of joints that occurs as the body ages. It is easy to get celery and celery seeds into the diet – add both to coleslaw, salads, pickles, marinades, stews, and soups.

Celery essential oil, found in many health food stores, is used when treating gout pain, fungal infections, arthritis, and cellulite. Use 10 drops in a pan of water for soaking or 2 drops in an ounce of oil for rubbing. Celery essential oil is a valuable tool in aromatherapy where it benefits nervous conditions, relieves water retention, and purifies the kidneys. Celery essential oil is also used in the treatment of tumors.

Whenever possible grow your own celery or buy organic celery. (According to the Environmental Working Group's 2006 report "Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce," celery is among the 12 foods on which pesticide residues have been most frequently found.) If using commercially grown celery, scrub the stalks under running water with a vegetable brush. Discard the base of the plant which collects more toxins than the stalks.

The slender celery plant grows to three feet tall. As a vegetable, celery is cultivated for the green and blanched leaf stalks. Celery seeds come from a plant that is related, but not identical to the celery stalks grown as vegetables. Both are related to parsley and grow under the same conditions.

Getting the tiny seeds to sprout is tricky. Store in freezer until ready to start indoors then pour hot water over them and soak overnight. Mix seeds with fine sand and scatter on top of soil. If kept warm and moist, they should sprout in three weeks.

Celery plants like rich, moist soil and cannot tolerate frost. Plant seedlings in the garden about one foot apart. Add compost mulch as plants grow and water regularly when needed. Blanching (cutting out light) should be done 4 weeks before harvesting. Tie stalks together with strips of cloth, and then earth them up gradually until only the leaves poke out above the dirt. (Celery is considered one of the hardest vegetables to grow in the home garden so if you succeed, please contact me at the North Georgia News. I would love to get a photo of your celery plant!)

* In rare cases, celery can stimulate uterine contractions. Do not use therapeutic amounts of celery during the early stages of pregnancy. Always consult with a healthcare professional before using any herbal remedy especially when pregnant, nursing, or taking other medications.