Carrots

Any expert carrot growers out there? I grew two types of carrots - Purple Haze F1 Hybrid and Burpee's Rainbow Hybrid (mostly light yellow colored).

They don't taste that good. I was expecting the home grown ones to be better than the orange ones I buy in the store. These are not sweet at all even though the Burpee Rainbow Hybrid claims to be "sweet and mild" Did I do something wrong growing them? I have never grown carrots before. They look nice but what good is that once they get in your mouth.

Grik,

What was the soil where the carrots were grown like? I amended my carrot patch with a high percentage of organic compost and sand, so that it was almost as airy as a potting mix. My carrots were very flavorful --- I just didn't plant enough of them!

I grew them in a raised bed I put in last year. It has some sort of "raised bed mix" a local nursery delivered here. It is very fine and loose. I didn't mix any extra organic matter in though, I just fertilized with that blue stuff. I wonder if that is the problem. Your carrots sound like what I was hoping for. Maybe I can get in another crop for fall and I'll add some compost first and see.

I'm no expert by any means, can only tell you about my own experiences. My soil is a 50/50 mix of top soil and compost, fresh this year and is very light and airy. I've added no extra fertilizer at all to any of my veggies (an experiment). I grew Danver's and Touchon's this year and they are coming out very nice; sweet and tasty. Hope you have better luck next time!!