Carrots ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) This is the first time I planted carrots and I guess they are doing fine. They were planted about 6 weeks ago and every time I looked at them and I wonder whether there is any carrots under those plants. Carrot? ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) So I decided to move some of the earth around one of the plants to check and it is still very skinny. Now I wonder is there any special way other than what I did to check whether it is ready for the picking?
Hi KK, there is not really any other way to check. As the root grows the "shoulders" of it may start to grow up and out of the ground. Keep them covered with mulch or soil or they will turn green and taste nasty.
Cute baby carrots. They will need to be in the ground for a while yet. I think water is key, and as carolyn says, keep them covered.
Yes. That's what I do. You don't need to move away too much soil. I just get my fingers down near the root and feel around. In a few weeks, you'll find a fat one and you'll be delighted. I had trouble learning to grow carrots but I finally got the hang of it. They are fun to grow. I put a lot of carrots in my dehydrator. They work out well in soup and stews and carrot cake. Yum.
Thanks Carolyn, I'll make sure they don't turn green. I'll be patient and do just that EJ, thanks. I am happy too Daisybeans, thanks. Can the leafy top be eaten? Now you got me wondering too! Thanks Pricklypear, we use the carrots in soups and stew too, sometimes my wife make carrot cheese cake.
My carrots had started to flower!!! Carrot Flowers ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) Flowering Carrots! ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) From what I had read, carrots normally take 2 years to flower and I guess mine just bolted I think! Since the carrots are still small, I decided to cut them off and trim the foilage a little ..... err I hope I did the right thing .... did I? Looking at the carrot blooms makes me wonder why my broccoli doesn't do the same, it just got bigger and bigger but no broccoli head ... hmmmm
Actually if it has bolted, just pull it out. it won't produce a root for you to harvest. If you want the seeds for next seasons crop, then leave it.
In my experience, carrots take between 60 and 75 days to mature to harvesting size. This bolting that yours have done must be becaose of the heat. The pro's advise folks who live in warmer climes to plant and grow their carrots in the fall, winter and spring. It seems that you have planted yours right on the cusp, I think. I am interested to know the type of carrots you are growing. I have never had bolted carrots, but I can imagine that it would be best to lift them now, as I suspect that the flavour will already have changed and become stronger. They may be bitterish for eating rawm but I imagine that they would be fine to cook with. If you still have some carrots that have not yet bolted, Why don't you try giving them a little more water than you normally do in hopes of retarding their urge to bolt. It is easy to see in your last pics that the carrot comes from the plant commonly known as, "Queen Anne's Lace". I have heard that all the carrots that we have on our tables these days originally came from the Queen Anne's Lace plant (Daucus carota) through cross-breeding and development. It's interesting, when you think about them--carrots. A very interesting veggie.
Thanks Carolyn, I'll pull those that had bolted tomorrow if the weather permit. Thanks Sojerd, I believe is the heat and I am bolting a little too ..... cold and fever. As you know the weather here is hot hoT HOT or thunderstorm so nobody grow carrots commercially here. I planted two types of carrots, Chantenay Red Cored and Danvers 126 from USA. I can't remember which is blooming but I am sure only one of them is blooming. Wow!! thanks for this very interesting piece of info on "Queen Anne's Lace", I googled it and I learned so much about carrots, yes they are indeed very interesting. Never knew that carrots come in a variety of colours too! Now I am regretting that I cut most of the bloom off, I am going to let the fresh bloom go through the full cycle which I think is rather interesting.
The carrot we get here are the normal orange kind and it is either from China or Australia. Wasn't able to do any gardening today because of the very hot weather and my fever!! The carrots are still intact.
How what a bummer to be sick in the summer. Especially when it's already hot out. Hope you feel better soon. Maybe you getting purple carrots is a little like me finding purple peas here.
Thanks Carolyn, I am very much better now, it was just a minor flu.It is summer here everyday and hot! Anyway harvested the carrots yesterday. Carrot! ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) This is the first one that I pulled out, one of those that flowered. It doesn't look anything like carrot does it? ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) As I dug further some of them looks like carrot and the aroma of carrots is very strong. All those that had flowered did not have any edible part at all. ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) This is what I got after digging up the whole bed.
Well, KK--I don't know what to say about those carrots. They look a bit rough. The main thing is though--how did/do they taste? I don't mind it when I get rough-looking carrots now and then, because I have a culinary place for every misformed or stunty one of them ...just as long as they have flavour! This was a good experiment, and now perhaps you can investigate other types of carrot and see if you can find one that will perform a bit better in your climate. There are so many sorts that do this or that...so that you can perhaps fine one tailor-made for your garden. Let me know how they taste, mate.
