Growing Carrots

Latest Update 4th April 2020.

Carrots

• Carrots are propagated by directly sowing them into moist fertile soil.
• They grow slowly and can be harvested when required directly from the soil, pulling them out in clusters to be cooked and eaten right away.
• You will not find sweeter carrots than those grown organically in your own garden, and they are a great source of dietary fibre and micronutrients. 
• I have grown carrots for many years in my garden without significant pest problems.

Details.

• Binomial Name:                                        Daucus carota.
• Family group:                                           Apiaceae. 
• Variety:                                                    Nantes.
  
• Crop rotation group:                                  Light feeders.
  
• Garden bed type:                                      Drip Irrigated raised bed.
• Minimum sun per day:                              5 hours.
• Plant spacing:                                          In drills, thinned as required.
• Weeks to harvest:                                    12 - 18 weeks.
• Good companions:                                   Pea. radish. lettuce. sage. onion. leek.
• Climate:                                                   Warm temperate.
• Geography:                                              Southern hemisphere.

Nutrition.

• This food is very low in saturated fat and cholesterol. 
• It is a good source of vitamin C, vitamin B6, folate, pantothenic acid, iron, potassium and copper, and a very good source of dietary fibre, vitamin A, vitamin K and manganese. 
• More from nutrition data.self.com.

Maintain Healthy Plants

• This blogpage explains how I maintain healthy plants.  It describes how soil is prepared prior to planting, how to regulate the sun's intensity and how to help protect and feed plants through their leaves.

Propagate Plants Efficiently

•  This blogpage explains how I propagate seeds in a purpose built propagator.

Propagation Plan 2020.

• This blogpage tells you when to sow seeds.

Services Plan 2020.

• This blogpage tells you when to make compost and plan other garden/household related activities.

Growing Instructions.

• Propagate Carrots by directly sowing them into moist fertile soil. 
• Prepare several drills parallel to each other long enough to grow the required number of carrots.
• Mix the seed with course garden sand to ensure their even distribution.  
• Sprinkle them sparingly into the drills and lightly cover with finely sieved homemade compost.
• Firmed the ground before watering lightly with dilute seaweed extract. 
• Carrot seed is very small and will dry out and perish if neglected.  I am currently using a timber framed shadecloth cover to minimise evaporation, and I regularly water until the, slow to germinate, seedlings appear.  As soon as they get their roots down into the soil, the cover is removed.     

Harvesting and Storage.

• Start harvesting them in small bunches as needed from one end of the bed
• If you have planted the right quantity, you will finish harvesting them just as they reach peak size and quality.
• Harvest your carrots by grasping the foliage as close to their roots as possible and carefully pull them out of the soil.  Fill the hole left behind with homemade compost.
• I don't peel carrots fresh from the garden, I cook them in their skins after removing soil with a vegetable brush.  
• To store carrots, clean and chop them into small pieces and blanch them in boiling water for 2 minute.  After cooling and drying, store them in a freezer in resealable bags.  Alternatively, if your climate allows, grow them all year round and store them in the soil until needed.

Organic Pest Control.

• Carrots, like most vegetables, are vulnerable to attack from certain pests in my garden.  My blog on "Controlling Garden Pests" explains a little about these pests and what to do to protect plants from them.  For details click on the appropriate link below.
• Slugs and Snails.
• Carrot Fly.
• Birds.