If you love its crunchy texture in salads, use it to accompany hearty cheeses, or just add it to soups and casseroles, then it's time to start celery seeds off in a greenhouse (or anywhere you can maintain a temperature of 15C).

Use a seed tray or modular tray, sowing the seeds on the surface of the compost as they need light to germinate. Cover them lightly with vermiculite or put a sheet of glass on top of the tray. Mist the seeds with a hand spray and they should germinate in a couple of weeks.

Keep them frost-free and the compost moist and pull out any weak plants, or those with spotted foliage.

The rest can be grown on until they have four to six leaves, at which point you need to gradually harden them off in May and June before planting them out.

They are best grown in a vegetable patch in an open site with a fertile soil that holds moisture.

Water them in well and cover with horticultural fleece at night for the first week or so. Water once or twice a week after planting and protect them from slugs.