 | I pulled my first carrot today to see how they were getting on and to start to thin them a little. I'm growing the carrots in a deep pot on a shelf to bring them above the 20" (500mm) which I believe is the maximum height that the carrot root fly can achieve. It seems to be working and the carrots seem quite happy. The carrot root is about 5" (125mm) long and the tops are full and very green. I'm going to cut the carrots that I thin into a salad for dinner. |
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
The First Carrot
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
This is the craziest looking carrot I have ever seen Ian. Do you know what variety it is? It would be excellent rabbit food - they love the tops! If the carrot is 5" long then those tops must be at least 20" long - what on earth was that carrot thinking to grow in that way?....I hope it tastes good. Maybe you should grow yams instead!!
Hi Kate, They are a french variety called Potager de Colmar. They are supposed to be quite long and thin. The tops are indeed about 20" long. Pity I don't keep rabbits!.
As for Yams? I'm pulling up some potatoes in the next week or two and will plant that space with either cabbage or comfrey. For some time I had thought cabbage, but just recently, quite suddenly, I started to think maybe comfrey.
I have never grown a yam, I must try. Do yams and comfrey go well together? I think that there is a variety of yam called rotundata. Maybe I'll try them out together in a couple of months.
!!What can I say?? LOL is about all I can manage!You may get some interesting remarks about this from foreigners unmentionable!
Every time I look at this picture I keep thinking that the carrot was nailed to the wall to act as a warning to other carrots. "Perform or perish!"
That's an awfully long top for such a tiny carrot. I wonder if it got enough light. Did you grow it in full sun?
It also may have grown that way because it got too much nitrogen. Did you use fertilizer?
Hi Patrick, thanks for the advice. I think the problem was light. I grew these in a container because I didn't have any room left. I know I overplanted the pot with the intention of thinning out later, but things overtook me and the thinning has only just happened. The thinnings were very tasty!!
Vegie Gnome - I like your idea!! "Perform or perish" maybe that should be my motto!!!!
If it tasted good, that's all that matters!
When plants don't get enough light they tend to grow tall. You probably see this in your garden where the same weeds which grow in the shade are taller and thinner than those that grow in full sun.
I have a small garden behind my house, that is just a small piece of ground in between several buildings which hardly gets any light at all.
I can find some plants that grow there, but I usually have to throw them away after a few years, because they just grow too tall to be nice. No amount of cutting back solves the problem, because when I try this all I get are tall stumps.
Most vegetables don't grow well under these circumstances, but if your carrots taste good -- go for it!
I don't see any comfrey in these photos yet, ch yam. Maybe it would be too wild for you...
Post a Comment