Çanakkale Celeriac "Celery Root" (Apium graveolens var. rapaceum) Seeds – Turkish Heirloom, Large Roots, Sweet Parsley-Like Flavor, Cold-Hardy

Minimum: 125+ Seeds

The Turkish Root Celery With a Sweet, Parsley-Like Flavor

Celeriac looks like a rough, knobby ball of dirt, and that's exactly why it surprises people. Peel it back and the pale flesh is dense, smooth, and sweetly aromatic, with a flavor closer to parsley and celery than any ordinary root vegetable. This Turkish heirloom from Çanakkale is a large-rooted, cold-hardy type grown for the kitchen, the kind that belongs in a slow braise with olive oil, or roasted, mashed, or shaved raw into a winter salad.

Who Grows Çanakkale Celeriac?
The home cook wanting an authentic root for Turkish braises and winter cooking.
The heirloom gardener wanting a large-rooted Turkish variety with real regional roots.
The cold-climate gardener wanting a root crop that handles frost and cool weather.
The seed saver interested in preserving a Turkish heirloom variety.

What This Turkish Heirloom Root Actually Is
Apium graveolens var. rapaceum, called celeriac or celery root, is a biennial grown as an annual for its swollen, knobby root rather than its stalks. This Çanakkale heirloom, from northwestern Turkey where celeriac is known as kereviz, produces large roots with creamy white flesh and a sweet, parsley-like flavor. It is a classic ingredient in Turkish cooking, most famously braised slowly with olive oil, carrots, and peas. Plants form a rosette of dark green, celery-scented leaves above the root and tolerate light frost and cool autumn weather. As a biennial, plants left in the ground or replanted flower in their second year, which is how seed is saved.

In the Garden & Kitchen

• Zeytinyağlı kereviz: Braise peeled celeriac with olive oil, carrots, and peas for a classic Turkish dish.
• Roasting: Cube and roast for a sweet, caramelized side dish.
• Mash and soup: Purée into mashed celeriac or a creamy winter soup.
• Raw salads: Shave or grate raw into a crisp winter salad with lemon.
• Winter storage: Store harvested roots in a cool, humid place for months.
• Seed saving: Overwinter selected roots and replant them to flower and set seed in year two.

Growing Çanakkale Celeriac Seeds

• Start method: Start indoors 8 to 10 weeks before last frost; celeriac needs a long, cool season.
• Sowing: Press seed onto the soil surface and do not cover; the seed needs light to germinate.
• Germination: Sprouts slowly, in 10 to 21 days, with steady warmth and constant moisture.
• Soil temperature: Germinates best between 60 and 70°F.
• Transplanting: Move outdoors after frost danger has passed, setting plants at soil level.
• Spacing: Space plants 8 to 12 inches apart to allow roots to swell.
• Sunlight: Full sun to part shade.
• Soil: Rich, moisture-retentive soil with plenty of compost; celeriac is a heavy feeder.
• Watering: Keep soil consistently moist; dry spells cause small, hollow, or woody roots.
• Days to maturity: Typically ready in 100 to 120 days from transplant.
• Harvest: Dig roots in fall once they reach 3 to 4 inches across, before the ground freezes hard.
• Hardiness: Tolerates light frost; mulch heavily to extend the fall harvest.

Before You Close This Page
This is the root that rewards patience, a plain-looking Turkish heirloom that turns into one of the sweetest, most fragrant winter vegetables in the garden. Çanakkale Celeriac grows large, handles cold well, and stores for months, giving you fresh, flavorful roots long after the summer crops are gone. Start it early, keep it watered, and dig it in fall. Grow the root that tastes like parsley and celery in one.