I pulled up my carrots Sunday morning. They were the best I have ever grown, and probably the best I could have done with my shady location. Not a single one of them would have been supermarket-acceptable. They were either worm bitten, cracked open, too small, tapered too fast, split rooted, etc, etc. They’re good enough for me. I got probably 6 or 8 pounds of edible carrot from six 8-foot rows, but I didn’t pick anything in the last 4 feet of the last 3 rows because they just didn’t grow in the shade there.
I washed them outside with the hose and broke off the green tops.
Then I washed them better inside. After the picture above I cut off the bottoms and tops of each one. They are in the crisper drawer in the refrigerator awaiting their date with multiple freezer bags.
As I said, this was definitely the best I can do with my dirt, my skills, my location right now. I won’t give carrots a serious try again next year.
Posted by cressinghamgardeners on July 4, 2012 at 6:15 am
Lovely! I can almost smell that fresh-carrot smell. Our carrot seeds just never grew at all here. Happy gardening
Posted by Jimmy Cracked-Corn on July 4, 2012 at 4:48 pm
I’m sorry yours didn’t grow! Thanks for stopping by!
Posted by Leslie@vigorfamily.com on July 4, 2012 at 7:46 am
Beautiful sight!
Posted by Jimmy Cracked-Corn on July 6, 2012 at 9:40 am
The contrast of any picture featuring orange or red against the mainly green background of my theme makes for a pleasing combination.
Posted by pobept on July 4, 2012 at 8:14 am
Never give up. I would be thrilled to have a carrot crop as nice as yours.
Posted by Jimmy Cracked-Corn on July 4, 2012 at 4:48 pm
I’m both happy and unhappy at the same time. Happy that they worked as well as they did, but unhappy that this is the best I can do here in this garden.
Posted by healingmagichands on July 4, 2012 at 8:25 am
I haven’t pulled my carrots yet, they are still growing. But I never leave them in the garden the way my friend Tim does because I have thousands of tiny black ants that think that there is nothing more convenient than living INSIDE your food source…. and carrots are a great home.
Love the tomato on the side bar…
Posted by Jimmy Cracked-Corn on July 4, 2012 at 4:50 pm
I left these carrots in the ground for 80 or 90 days, so they could size up a bit. It was too long. I didn’t see any ants, so I’m assuming the ones with holes in them had white fly larva.
I hope I get another heart-shaped tomato this year! Thank you for stopping by!
Posted by billcarpenter4 on July 4, 2012 at 9:39 am
Awesome! You should try making some maple carrots with some of the ones you have harvested.
Posted by Jimmy Cracked-Corn on July 4, 2012 at 4:50 pm
I like the sound of that.
Posted by Rachel on July 4, 2012 at 8:17 pm
Your crop looks great to me; I think that supermarket carrots are bland, so I hope that these are great tasting. We found out the hard way two years ago that we need to really loosen and lighten up the soil in order to get carrots longer than 3 inches – I still find carrots tricky to grow.
Posted by Jimmy Cracked-Corn on July 5, 2012 at 9:02 am
Yes, this was my 4th attempt and by far the best. They are quite a bit tastier than what can be bought at the grocery store. Thank you for stopping by!
Posted by bishop9396 on July 4, 2012 at 10:21 pm
Looks like a great haul….don’t give up on them. Grow them in a different bed next year to help avoid pest problems – the taste of the homegrown are so much better! Love your your blogging….keep posting.
Posted by Jimmy Cracked-Corn on July 5, 2012 at 9:03 am
Thank you for the compliment! I really appreciate your kind words.
Posted by olemike on July 7, 2012 at 10:49 am
I’m jealous!
Posted by Jimmy Cracked-Corn on July 9, 2012 at 8:51 am
Thank you!