My Carrot harvest

This is some of my carrot harvest. They are Scarlet Nantes Carrots.

WOW that's awesome!!! Raised beds?

Wow--nice. I can't wait till I get enough compost worked into my clay soil to raise carrots--we just love them.

way to go Dean, those are fantastic carrots. Wish I could grow some but Ga clay makes them VERY hard to grow

WOOHOO! Well done, Dean boy!! :) Good eats!!

Awesome!

Time to chow down.

cluelessnTN, no, I didn't use raised beds. I just tilled in good compost and picked out alot of rocks. Thanks everyone for the compliments. This is the first time I've grown carrots sucessfully.

Mmmmm.... now you are making me hungry. Those look absolutely brilliant.

Im orange with envy !!! :) lucky ducky

I'm soooooooooo proud of you! Great job!!

what are you going to do with all of them thar carrots ?
i got me some idea's yummmm
pickled
roasted
juiced
soup
salad
dried
broth
lol
sue

how did you manage to get them to go? I've tried about 100 times from seed with no luck. If I could grow carrots like that.... well heck, I think I'd eat more carrots. they're so expensive in the store now.

taynors, I haven't touched them, yet. I guess I could eat them raw. LOL!!!


bunnygarden, I started them from seed. They grew rather slowly. I just kind of gave up on them until I was getting ready to plant some okra. I went to clean the bed out and I noticed some awsome looking carrots.

bunnygarden,

Look at your weather reports and make sure that no rains are expected in the next 2-3 days. Make sure the soil is rich and loose. You can either sprinkle/scatter seeds, or if you want perfect rows, you can even buy carrot seed tape which you just lay the tape down and then barely cover it with soil. Carrot seeds are very small so should just barely be covered with soil. You can even sprinkle potting soil on top since it's probably lighter than your soil.

Then water with the hose set to a light mist. You want the top just moist but not sopping wet. Then just walk away and maybe mist again 2 days later.

Now beets is what I can't get to come up. :(

With a "handle" like yours, I thought you would be a carrot expert, bunnygarden. LOL

LOL!!! Me too! I thought bunnies love carrots.

oh ha ha. Do you think they will even grow well in south FL? I love carrots.

Why not? Carrots is carrots no matter where you are? Just need well drained soil to work with.

We knew it!

You may do better with a fall/winter garden.

I have had much better success here in the Houston area that way. Its cooler, no bugs, etc. Still learning what works and what doesn't, and it can vary year to year.

I normally plant them in the fall as well, and mark the area with stakes so we can find the bed under the snow and ice. Carrots don't mind the cold and are actually sweeter for a nip of frost. Also broccoli, cabbage, etc. And a lot fewer bugs to deal with as well all a plus.

I have not tried planting carrots here, yet - hard enough to get radishes to make a decent root in our clay/gumbo, but I think I will this year - they would be great with the brussles sprouts in Dec - Feb.

Excellent, look for some of the shorter faster growing varieties, Bubba. Until you get that clay under better control, this is one place where you can set up a "square foot" type garden and use builder's sand and gypsum to break up the clay. Carrots like sandy soil. What variety of brussel sprouts are you using?

I usually go for the shorter growing cycle types for my fall gardens.

Bubba,

My carrots were the shorter variety. Where are you? Down by Houston?

My soil wasn't sandy, but a heavy clayish soil. I added alot of my compost and now there is a ton of worms there.

I'm in Missouri City - south of Houston - east of Sugar Land.

Been adding peat moss, sand, and lots of organics from the compost pile - its getting better all the time.

Don't know/remember the bs variety, but we harvested the leaves and used them for cabbage rolls, too.

Guess I'll go back to "stealing" the clear bagged grass clippings that one of the lawn services leaves at the curb. I've mixed in at least 25 bags in the last 3 years and the garden is only 10x20. I top with shredded leaves and tree limbs for mulch - it disappears in one season. Love the shredder/bagger.

Yes, LOL, get those leaves and grass clippings.

I got a raised bed for my root veg's i pilled up some top soil from our woods that is rich in worms and will do some rotted manure mixed in
Im hoping that will be a nice place for carrots and rads with some lettuce too.
Dean yeah i guess you can eat them raw LOL :)
so have you bitten in one yet ? they look wonderful and yummy
sue

Sue, not yet.

couple of questions... what the heck is gypsum and what does it do? how bad are earthworms in your garden? and we have bugs non-stop in and out of the ground here. I'm too far south to get decent chilling time. we actually got a freeze last year that killed most of my garden and our average winter temp is in like the 60's. I'm petrified of trying them for fear of bugs. is there anything you can spray for them?

Gypsum is an amendment that helps break up clay soil. You can get it at most nurseries or big box garden centers. What kind of bugs are you talking about? You should be able to grow carrots that far south, Dean is very close to the zone you're in, I do believe.

doccat what kind of soil is best for root veg's ? i was thinking a more sweet soil ? if i remember right .
buny earthworms are great for the soil if your not sure of what kind of bugs there are , look in the bug files tab. :)
I forgot about gypsun duh ? i was looking at my raised bed and thinking
but tomorrow i got manure comming in . I hope this helps with capping of the soil ?
I tried the Purlple Dragon two yrs ago but it was a bit bitter for me . Im sure it was the soil . ?

The best soil for root veggies is loose soil. :)

good to know felfon
so far its mostly topsoil from our woods

LOL!!! Yes, loose soil, is the best. Plenty of organic matter.

what kind of bugs? any kindof bugs you can think of and more. I'm just petrified that something will eat them before I even get to see them.

sorry i meant to say what kind of bugs do we have here? every kind you can think of. I battle aphids on a weekly basis and thrips and anything else that likes to eat plants
.

sorry feldon i spelled your name wrong my bad . also a bad typer :)
ok good to know
soil is very loose and just added some black gold i got from a horse farm this morning. Nice aged composted manure and hummis. want to go back for more but man its a haul for me . I have to drive down a hill and shovel UP. not easy.
going to see if he will let me use a bobcat . That will be sweet

I know specifically with potatoes that you don't want to plant them immediately in soil with a lot of composted manure as you will get some scarring (called scab) which doesn't really affect the flavor to my knowledge, but so you know what to look for.

Not sure if fresh or composted manure is an issue for carrots as far as short term. I still have a lot to learn in this area! :)

i don't think it would hurt . But one never know. I will have to let you all know . always room to experiment
good to know on the potatos. so far none are growing :( been several weeks but i have hope.
sue