This is the season when we start buying more celery to use in soups and stews, but we rarely use the whole bunch. Most recipes require only one or two ribs, and by the time we get to the rest, it's often limp and mushy. Here's one simple way to keep celery crisp longer…
To store celery, wrap it tightly in aluminum foil and refrigerate it. We've had celery stay crisp for weeks this way.
According to an old issue of Cook's Illustrated, this method works because foil allows the ripening hormone ethylene to escape. In contrast, a plastic bag traps ethylene gas, accelerating moisture loss and spoilage.
Do you have any other tips for storing celery?
More celery tips:
• What Can I Do with a Big Bunch of Celery?
• Sexy Celery: 8 Stunning Ways to Use Up Leftover Stalks
• Re-Growing Celery: Grow a New Bunch Indoors or Outdoors
Related: A Guide to Storing Fruits and Vegetables
(Images: Nature's Finest Produce)
5 Things Paris Taught Me About Travel
Recipe: Ham, Cheddar & Chive Egg Bakes
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Bacsac Bacsquare 04...
Apartment Therapy's Sofa Shopping Guide
Nikki’s Sweet and Cheery Print Studio
I always hack off the bottom and stand the whole bunch in a glass of water in the fridge (I have a big souvenir glass that's just the right size). It lasts seemingly forever as long as you change the water every now and then; I've never had any go bad.
I chop it and freeze it.
I freeze my celery too. The leaves get put into a big ziploc bag with other vegetable parts so I can make broth.
My mother would always chop it and put it in the Tupperware that she had specifically for celery and carrots - a basic rectangular Tupperware with an insert that lifts out entirely, so replacing the water was a cinch.
I don't like celery very much, so I've never felt particularly motivated to save it from the trash. I know, I know...I already feel like a terrible person, but I have no garden in which to compost and very, very few creative uses for those nasty yellowy leafy bits. Not a scrap of cheese can go to waste in my house, but celery? Not so much.
I tried it and it works. My CSA usually includes a large bunch of celery and this method keeps it from going totally bad!
I have always had the most horrible results freezing celery - it ends up so disgustingly mushy it isn't even suitable for cooking.
I'm actually a celery freak and eat it most every day. I buy the packs from Costco! It's rare that I would need to worry about it going limp. However I have done the foil wrapping in the past and it does the trick.
I agree with Alicelost. I do the same. The celery lasts for a long time and stays strong and straight due to the celery absorbing the water from the glass.
I seccond Pi, try keeping a stock box or bag in the freezer for excess celery, leek tops, corn cobs and such. Saves waste and provides beautiful home made stocks!
I wrap the head in a paper towel, stick it in a plastic produce bag, and keep it in one of the crisper drawers. I'm not a huge celery fan except for tuna salad, or for stews and soups that call for it, but I can usually get through a whole head before it goes limp.