Getting to the roots: growing and harvesting carrots
From the beginning, I always thought that growing carrots for a decent harvest was simple. However “Decent” is not what you should strive for, but rather something more excellent.
For example, if you want mostly huge, well-formed carrots, the soil should be deeply dug and free from stones, because stones in the soil cause forked and twisted roots. Seedlings should be thinned to approximately 2 inches (5.1 cm) apart if they are less than 3 inches (7.6 cm) towering. Later thinning will be less effective and may harm the remaining plants.
I try to keep newly planted beds well watered at least until the seeds germinate, and usually for a week or two thereafter. In earlier plantings, nature usually takes care of it, but I often plant only at the summer solsticewhen the soil may be too balmy and droughty to allow rapid and consistent germination without additional watering. Drought in the early stages can seriously weaken carrots. A high level of humus helps ensure sufficient and constant soil moisture.
Adding fertilizer
Other than that, the only fertilizer I add is some wood ash (about 2 to 3 gallons or 7.6-11.4 liters per bed). A lot of nitrogen should not be needed and may actually be counterproductive. Nitrogen acts as a growth hormone, and although carrots in very opulent soil can grow quickly, they will often have poorer health, poorer flavor and poorer keeping ability than carrots supplied with proportionately more alkaline minerals (especially potassium).
As you can see, an adequate amount of potassium is needed for cell wall turgor; without it, the tissues become flaccid, faint, and susceptible to invasion by almost anything. Alkaline minerals are also linked to the formation and storage of sugars. This is why Carrots with lots of minerals are sweeter, crispier, more resistant to diseases and stored longer. Carrots grown in excess nitrogen tend to taste resinous (due to terpenes) and shrink quickly in storage.
Getting to the roots
The part of the carrot we eat is not the entire taproot; a compact thread-like root that extends beyond the enlarged root is necessary. It reaches for water that is far beyond the storage part. This tender root is easily damaged by insects or rodents burrowing into the ground when broken, the plant loses its sense of direction: Without this radical dominance, the root grows in all directions, creating the often banal-looking forms you see at trade shows.
The plant can produce just as many roots, but is more arduous to wash and operate. This is why Plants with taproots such as carrots, parsnips, beets and turnips are very arduous to transplant: Even if the seedlings survive, the resulting roots will usually be deformed so that they cannot be used.
Storing and harvesting carrots
In recent years the emphasis appears to be on breeding early varieties for the fresh market and on groundbreaking varieties with a variety of colors. In my constrained experience, most of the latter have mediocre flavor and very penniless shelf life.
These are recent products only on the American market; have been common for centuries in places such as Cyprus, Syria and Pakistan. The French and Dutch did much to bring the carrot to its newfangled splendor; I don’t see the point in going back. My priority is the quality of storage, and Scarlet Nantes meets this need to my satisfaction.
When to harvest carrots
I don’t harvest carrots until mid-Octoberpartly because some of the best and sweetest shoots develop in the later weeks, but also partly because I store them, like beets and rutabagas, in barrels of freshly fallen maple leaves.
Any leaves will probably do, but the maple trees are crisp and neat as crumpled paper and provide a nice cushion without imparting any flavor. Additionally, by this time the root cellar had begun to chilly, providing a better dormancy period.
Notes on storing carrots
Speaking of carrots I was intrigued by how susceptible they are to freezing in the garden compared to wild carrotsQueen Anne’s lace, in the nearby hay fields.
I wonder how much of the latter is protected by the turf and how much of it is just the resistance of wildness. Carrots spoil very quickly or go back to cultivationwhich may indicate the superficial nature of some of our domestication.