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  • From: EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Carrots
  • Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2009 11:58:31 -0500

One other thing...I keep thinking of stuff, sorry...
This last time I grew carrots they were 'hairy'. I think James or someone told me that meant that the soil was too rich. I'm pretty sure my raised beds are high in Nitrogen, so I wasn't too surprised. They tasted just fine though. ;) That probably explains the small carrot size, too. Generally, if the N is too high, things are very leafy but have small roots. I haven't really thought about this until today but the reason my carrots probably did well in the bean row is because as a root crop, the probably like phosphorus and potash and I always dump a bucket or two of wood ashes in the area where I intend to plant beans. I do recall actually pouring a bucket of ashes in the spot where that row was. (Why can I remember crap like that and not remember a doctor's appointment?) I suppose I need to double dig a small area and dedicate it to growing carrots. No rocks.

B

EarthNSky wrote:
I was hoping more folks would respond because I am looking for a good
variety, too.
Lisa I've grown the Nantes(2 types I think), and this year I am trying
Red Cored Chantanay. I think I need to plant carrots a little earlier
than I have as my carrots have been on the small side. They just don't
do well baked in the ground, so I have to pull them. Like Lynda's beds,
all of mine are very composty and layered. Now, it is rare to see a
misshapen carrot, but the first year here, when I grew them in the
ground, I had the funniest looking carrots you ever saw. I tried to
clear the area of rocks, but even the smallest stone caused a
mar/deformation in the the carrot.
I do try to put my carrots in a line, even in the raised beds. I will
run multiple short lines, 2 or 3 feet long, parallel to each other. The
other thing I do that I haven't seen mentioned is that I mix my radish
seeds with carrot seeds and plant them together. The radishes germinate
first and it marks the row. They grow quickly and are pulled long
before the carrots are ready. Oh, when I planted them in the ground one
year, some seeds washed over into the adjacent row of greenbeans. Beans
are apparently a good companion because the carrots in that row did much
better than the carrots in the dedicated row. That's all I can tell ya.

Bev

Lisa K.V. Perry wrote:
On Mon, Jan 12, 2009 at 6:32 PM, Lynda <lurine AT com-pair.net> wrote:

All my beds are raised or lasagna, so they are really composty and
the equivalent of real well dug and light. I simply scatter seeds
around the bottoms of the peas, beans, tomatoes and in amongst the
lettuce. I also plant them in amongst my herbs. They do real well
with chives, rosemary and sage.


Thanks, Lynda. I've read that carrots are 'particular' so have been
leery but would really like to give it a solid try this year. Sounds
like you don't have a specific bed for carrots then but just put them
wherever. I had not thought of your method. What variety do you grow?
I had hoped a couple of people would pick up on this thread.

Lisa _______________________________________________ Homestead list
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