Mom's Vegetable Chowder

1 cup chopped celery
6 cups chopped carrots
8 cups diced potatoes
2 quarts milk
1/2 lb salt pork or bacon, chopped
2 cups chopped onions
1/2 cup flour

Cook celery in boiled, salted water until partially tender. Add carrots, potatoes, and enough water to cover them. Continue cooking vegetables until tender. Add the milk and let it heat slowly. Fry salt pork or bacon until crisp. Add the salt pork to the vegetables, reserving drippings. Brown the onions lightly in the drippings. Blend flour into the drippings, and cook until slightly thickened, stirring constantly. Add to the vegetable-milk mixture and heat slowly, stirring occasionally, until at serving temperature.

(Mom sometimes froze this ahead of time, before adding the milk and flour. Thaw completely and heat slowly. Mix the flour into a cup of the milk. Add the rest of the milk and the milk-flour mixture to the soup. Heat slowly, stirring occasionally.)