Container carrots

[FarmerChick]

I tried carrots many times but my red Carolina clay is rough. like pushing thru cement. it takes alot to make good soil here and I usually like less 'root' crops because of this pain in the butt soil.

but I am trying container carrots. I will be harvesting on the smaller side. I love the little guys for salads and to add to stews.

and I am going to try this: (copied from a carrot site )


Deciding Not to Harvest: How to Store Carrots in the Ground If desired, you can leave carrots in the ground provided the soil is well-draining and doesn't freeze. Here's what you need to do:
1.Allow the tops to die down.
2.Cover your carrots with a black polythene sheet or a board.
3.Place at least a foot of mulch on top of the boards or plastic. You can use hay, straw, leaves or grass.
4.If in a windy area, bend wire over the mulch to hold it down.
5.Harvest carrots as needed.


I figure if I use more shallow containers, like window boxes, I could easily move those into a covered area and use the above method to keep carrots going well into wintertime. Anyone try this? my winters are very mild most times. I think I can get away with this if I put some hay bales around them for warmth on the pot.


Anyone else have trouble with carrots? If you grow great carrots do you have any tips? for some reason carrots are going to be a focus for me this year along with tons of delish sugar snaps. We love sugar snaps.

 

[Wannabefree]

I did my carots in a raised bed last year with pretty good results. They were small because the bed was too shallow for them. I didn't over winter them though. I grew the Nante's Half Long's. They did great, and I harvested early(4 inches long) due to the shallow bed. My soil was just composted chicken bedding from the year before.

Can you build a foot deep raised bed and get some composted manure in it? If you can do that, I'd think with our similar climates, you'd be able to toss some hay bales on top and a tarp for easy peasy overwintering.

 

[pinkfox]

you might want to also try parisian type carrots, there round so dont need as much depth

 

[2dream]

FC- Landreth Seed website has some really neat container garden carrots. If you go to their website and look on the left hand side you will find Container Gardening. There is a lot of things there for container gardening and if I am not mistaken, they are the oldest seed company around. They were having some financial problems and are working really hard at staying open. Keep America working. So if you need some seed - please consider ordering from them. I ordered the Tonda Di Parigi a short and round parisian carrot.

No I don't get free seed for typing their name everywhere I get the opportunity. I just like there service and they are the only seed catalog I actually pay for. They are a little bit higher than some of the other heirloom seed companies but I would love to see them be able to stay open for business.

 

[FarmerChick]

yea you are probably right with just a raised bed. my climate means I can produce way into colder months so just some hay over the top should work. maybe easier than containers. just a set raised bed. less work right than moving containers


the round carrots...never thought of those. they would work well with the mandolin and slice into round chips. just as good as whole baby carrots.


thanks 2 dream
I will definitely bop over into that website. I also am all for keeping open the little american guy!


now I want to ground round fat ones and skinny little long ones. I am a carrot lover for sure

 

[FarmerChick]

hey does anyone have a recipe that 'kinda features' carrots as a main big part of the dish? just curious.

I usually eat them raw. cooked get too mushy for me. But if I could cook them in a main type of dish I could get a bit more use out of them????

 

[2dream]

I don't have a recipe so to speak but we do eat a lot of steamed and sauted veggies. Depending on the veggies and how long they will be sauted or steamed as to how I chop, shred, dice or slice the carrots. We love steamed broccoli and caulflower with peppers, onions and carrots added or snow peas with broccoli, onion, peppers, onions a few potatos and shredded carrots sauted in a little olive oil or butter. The possibilities are endless.

Edited to add: I noticed after I posted that I added onion twice to the sauted veggies and thought about changing it. But on second thought I will leave them in cause I usually add a lot of onions. LOL
Also, all the above is great over rice.

 

[FarmerChick]

LOL 2 dream
I hear ya on roasting, sautee etc. I sure go thru veggies like crazy also


ya know, other than a carrot cake, I can't think of other ways to make a carrot a focus. hmmm....maybe it is meant to be a 'veggie in the group' type root HAHA


I never heard of a 'stuffed carrot' or anything like that. (I am now off to google carrot recipes and see if they are used as a main focus in anything LOL)

 

[2dream]

Somewhere here (probably in the recipe section) is a recipe for gingered carrots. I think it came out of Nourishing Traditions. I just have a vague memory of the talk about how good it was.

 

[cheepo]

I tryed growing carrots for the first time last year....
in a quite deep raised bed...
not much luck though
planted purple haze and rainbow...
got No Purple haze and only scrawny rainbows...
the parsnips didn;t do well either....
the soil was mainly composted...
so maybe that had something to do with it...