Depending on who you expect , it ’s the Year of the Sheep , or the Year of the Goat , or the Year of Soils . But I ’m declaring 2015 “ The Year of the Carrot . ” We exhaust a lot of cultivated carrot in my household , and while I ’ve always rise them in my garden , this twelvemonth I ’m going to grow right smart more than usual . I ’m aiming to increase the issue of varieties I originate , as well as do a full occupation of staggering the plantings to ensure I have roots to harvest from mid - May all the way through next March . In other parole , I want to glean 10 months of reinvigorated , colorful carrots .
I ’m going to sow my first run-in of carrot semen in a dusty frame in late March , then watch with new rowing every week , all summertime long . The first few weeks will fill the cold frame , as will any plantings that take seat after late July . The rest will be seeded directly into the garden . Because we eat so many carrots , I do n’t feel bad dedicating so much space to a single crop . I ’ve discovered that sometimes it ’s important to be uncoerced to give the straight footage of less - adore crops , such as turnips , rutabagas and eggplants , and give it instead to the craw we eat more of .
I ’m also promising myself that I ’ll religiously thin my carrot seedling this year . I ’m not always effective at this important step , but it ’s decisive for developing farsighted , square roots .
Here are some of the carrots I ’m sex to grow this twelvemonth :
1 . Scarlet Nantes
This is my stand - by cultivated carrot diverseness . I turn it in my garden every year because it produces consistently - sized carrots that are sweet and do not get sententious when over - fledged . It ’s my Word ’s favorite carrot for fresh eating straight out of the garden .
2 . Sugarsnax 54
This is the longest carrot I plan to grow , topping out at a banging 11 inches ! I ’ll prepare the seed layer extra late for this diverseness . It ’s worth it , though , as Sugarsnax 54 is super sweet and tender . No need to peel this stunner .
3 . Yaya
My champion Niki Jabbour , a gardener in Halifax , Nova Scotia , and the author ofThe Year - Round Vegetable Gardener , loves this sweet , crisp carrot . The roots are 6 inch retentive and are particularly good for autumn and wintertime harvests . She says their savour greatly amend after the roots have been touched by a few frosts . I plan to sow a few rows of Yaya in July for wintertime harvests .
4 . Merida
credibly the hands - down favourite for capitulation planting and overwintering , Merida has been bred to be implant in September and October and then reap the following spring . This is the carrot that will take my harvest to a full 10 month . It resists go off and the roots are crunchy and delicious . If you do n’t have a stale frame , a thickheaded layer of shuck mulch is all that ’s call for to see this carrot through the winter in all but the uttermost North .
5 . Purple Sun
I ’ve grown a quite a little of regal carrot varieties over the days , but Purple Sun sit down at the top of the leaning . They make large baby carrot and their purple color extends all the way through the cultivated carrot , unlike some other royal variety . The source are high in anthocyanins , the antioxidant that lend them their fertile colour , and are a blessing to human health . I love this one !
6 . Lobbericher
A beautiful icteric heirloom , Lobbericher will be a first - timer in my garden this twelvemonth . I ’m looking ahead to harvesting this smorgasbord while the roots are still unseasoned , steaming or sautéing the etymon as a side dish . I ’ve grown Touchstone Yellow before and I ’ve been wanting to try a different chickenhearted selection for equivalence .
7 . Red Samurai
I saw this unfeigned ruby-red cultivated carrot for the first meter last year at the farmers ’ market , and I was so stupid that I had to ask the Fannie Farmer about the name of this astonishing root craw . The savour is sheer , but it ’s also quite sweet , and the red stays red , even when fake . I ’m so delirious to get this miscellanea !
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