Growing veggies in February?

It probably shows a lack of seeing the obvious, but I was surprised to find Jim Markey harvesting vegetables at J-Mar Farms along the Susquehanna Trail Saturday.

I assumed that all veggies being grown here this time of year were from hot houses. Markey was working in two or three foot trenches, digging in the soggy soil. Bleached celery, so called because it's pale yellow-green color, is new to me. But I'm not a cook, and until Saturday, didn't much care for celery because it's usually full of stringy fiber, and generally tasteless.

Bleached celery, a local crop known for its enhanced flavor and lack of chewy fiber, is still being harvested in York Township, despite winter temperatures.

Jim Markey of J-Mar Farms in York Township, toils in trenches where the celery has grown since being planted in October. Workers planted 11,000 stalks in October, and cooks and chefs used it for holiday meals over Thanksgiving and Christmas. By Saturday, Markey was harvesting some of the 3,000 still left,  still insulated under mounds of straw and plastic sheeting.

Markey says bleached celery is only harvested in Lancaster and York Counties, mainly because growing it is very labor intensive, since the stalks must be trimmed of all its tough dark green stalks, roots and most of the leaves removed. Even worse, winter temperatures can destroy the entire crop, as happened a few years ago when 10,000 stalks were frozen out.
 
On New Year's Day this year, however, Markey still had 11 vegetables in the ground because of mild temperatures.  On Saturday, Markey was digging bright orange carrots as well as celery.