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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

So, are y'all planting carrots as a fall crop?  I've always planted them
in the Spring..perhaps that is one of my problems and the solution to
getting tasty carrots?  Perhaps it is not as much as a varietal problem
but a heat issue?  Thinking about it, it does make sense to grow a root
crop for fall harvest, energy is going downward to the roots, not to the
greens...

Bev

Lynn Wigglesworth wrote:
> From: "Keith B" <bartermn AT epix.net>
> > Yeah, I usually thin them good once and let them be. We had an
> > early freeze with heavy snow a few years back and didn't harvest
> > the carrots until January. I remember forking up big bunches of
> > frozen dirt packed with baby carrots, perfect for pickling.
>
> I tried Elliot Coleman's Candy Carrots this year. I planted in
> August, and was a little (a lot) lax about weeding and thinning. I
> went out around Thanksgiving to dig up a few...and was amazed to find
> huge carrots. They were 4 or 5 times the size of 'normal' carrots,
> but were well formed and still very tender and tasty (a few have
> started splitting since then). I've never been able to grow sucessful
> carrots before, and now I've grown super mutant carrots!
>
> The details: The seed was Napoli from Johnny's seed. The ground had
> many inches of composted manure dug in 3 years before. I dug it very
> deeply and removed all the rocks in the spring and put in 2 crops of
> carrots...the first didn't do much...radishes and a few (very
> few)bunches of normal enough carrots, then I cleaned out the bed,
> used my broadfork to loosen it, and planted the second crop of
> monster carrots...I fertilized a bit with an organic all-purpose
> fertilizer and some kelp.
>
> Lynn Wigglesworth Peasant Farmer Tioga County, PA
>
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--
Bevanron of EarthNSky Farm   Sleep well tonight, for somewhere in the
ocean's depths, MY son is protecting YOUR freedom.