Rich in vitamins, they're low in calories and an excellent source of fiber. What's more, they'll last for several weeks after harvest when stored in a refrigerator or cool root cellar. Not only do they taste especially delicious when you grow carrots in your own garden, but they're also extra sweet when kissed by frost. With a little preparation before you sow the seeds, protection from pesky flies, and the right amount of water, you can grow deliciously sweet, seriously crunchy carrots in your backyard to enjoy all year round.If you enjoy crisp, crunchy carrots, you'll adore the fresh flavor of homegrown. If you’re container-growing, making sure that your pot has adequate drainage will help. Overwatering can lead to carrots developing forked roots, or splitting. You can also try trapping the flies with sticky tape and sprinkling an organic insect solution around the plants.Ĭompanion planting can also be an effective, natural repellant, try growing onions nearby to deter the flies. The best way to prevent the flies from laying eggs is to cover the carrots with floating row covers or horticultural fleece. The larvae feed on the juicy roots and can cause tremendous damage. The carrot rust fly is an unwelcome visitor to carrot crops. If you’ve got a bumper harvest, you can store carrots in the sand in a cool place for a few months. It might be tempting to leave carrots until you want to eat them, but carrots left in the soil too long will become woody and lose their sweet flavor. Make sure that the soil is moistened before you pull your carrots up. This will, of course, vary depending on the variety you have grown. As a general rule, carrots are ready to pick when the tops are between ½ and ¾ inch in diameter and a good, bright color. Like all root vegetables, it can be tricky to know exactly the right time to harvest carrots. Although carrots are made up of 88% water, they don’t need to be drenched, 1-2 inches of water per week should be enough.
Danvers 126: A great tasting, heat-tolerant variety.Tendersweet: An impressively long imperator carrot with one of the sweetest flavors.Deep Purple Hybrid : A beautifully colored, sweet variety, perfect for adding color to salads.Danvers: The classic carrot, medium-sized and well flavored, and they’ll tolerate heavier soil than Imperator carrots, but need looser soil than Chantenays.
Chantenay: These carrots have short, stocky roots, a sweet, earthy flavor and are great for growing in soil that’s heavy in clay or rocky.These carrots like loose soil and are a good choice for container growing. Nantes: A beautiful French heirloom, these carrots have a more rounded appearance than the other types.
They will need plenty of room and loose, sandy soil to grow. Imperator: These elegant, long-rooted carrots are sweet to eat and impressive to look at.There are 4 main types of carrots that you can grow: There are several hundred different carrot varieties and you can grow a rainbow of these striking roots from bright red to deepest purple.