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Hi Folks,
Ever since wildfires ravaged thousands of acres and over
fifteen-hundred homes here in southern California last autumn much of my
energy here in the mountain-valley where we live has gone toward
trimming trees and bushes that were never trimmed, removing chamise (or
greasewood) and sage brush; stacking dead wood and dry brush where the
ground is sloped and bare and mulching it with a bush hog to prevent
erosion; and making certain all structures are as fire safe and
resistant as we can make them.
Meanwhile, food and fuel prices continue skyrocketing.
For a glimpse of how desperately unstable the U.S. economy and dollar have
gotten recently check out the headlines on this page:
Let's not count on the next presidential election to save
our butts! That's reckless and irresponsible. If you're aware of how shaky
the economy is getting and you're still making no efforts to grow your own
food, it's time to get started with a small container garden, a water
purifier, and a few egg-laying hens. Personal responsibility is
the key. Surely you're not waiting for the proverbial Titanic to
go under before you begin work on your family's and community's
lifeboats.
Some of us are going to need to use every trick in
the book to provide ourselves with as much food as possible in the years
ahead. Now that Spring is near, here is the first of this season's
instructional gardening articles. I think carrots are one of the easiest
foods to grow and it seems like everybody likes them too.
Hope this helps.
All the best,
Doug
p.s. If you prefer not to receive instructional
emails let us know and we'll remove your name from our list.
Container Carrots
From The Apartment Farmer by Duane
Newcomb.
Cool season crop. Rated excellent for indoor and
outdoor containers.
Carrot are probably a near perfect plant
for containers. They take little space, they really arent
fussy about temperature (even though theyre rated a cool season crop),
and theyll stay in the ground a long time without spoiling. You can
just go and pull one up at a time. In addition, carrots come in a
variety of shapes and sizes. You can grow long, slender carrots
(Gold Pak, Imperator); medium, fat carrots (Royal Chatenay, Spartan
bonus;) middle, slender carrots (Danvers Half Long;) short, slender
carrots (Little Finger;) and short, fat (Ox-Heart.)
How to
Grow
Plant by scattering the seeds across the container
surface, roughly 1 inch apart. Cover with about 1/2 inch of
soil. After a few weeks, thin to 2 inches apart (use the young
carrots in cooking or eat raw). In large containers, plant half the
crop ten days before you plant the other half.
Caution here. If the
carrot tip touches the bottom of the pot, the carrot will not develop to
maturity. Simply make sure your container is deep enough for the
variety you intend to grow.
For indoor containers, plant any
time. Outside you should plant carrot seed on the approximate date
of the last frost in you area. You can then continue to plant up to
about sixty days before the first frost of fall. You can grow
carrots all summer long except in the hottest areas. If the summer
sun is exceptionally hot on the patio (above 90 degrees), provide some
shade.
4-inch Pots (this means width of the pot, make
sure your container is deep enough for the kind of carrot you are
planting). You can grow Little Finger or Ox-Heart in 4 inch pots.
Limit the pots to three to six Little Finger carrots, two to four
Ox-Heart.
Under Lights. You can easily grow carrots
with two 40-watt fluorescent tubes.
Typical Problems. My
carrots cracked badly. This is a watering problem. If you let
the soil dry out and water infrequently, the roots will crack open as they
start to grow again.
My carrots didnt come up well from
seed. You didnt keep the soil wet during the germination
period. Try again. (Also, this can be caused by using seed that's too old
or was improperly stored).
Harvesting Tips. Start harvesting
your carrots as soon as they reach finger size. Theyre delicious at
this stage. Large carrots often become woody.
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