When to Harvest Carrots

Image courtesy of cafe-ole on freeimages.com

My favorite Seattle gardener wondered when she will know when her carrots are ready.   When do you know that root veggies are ready?
1.  You really won’t know until you pull out a trial carrot.  BUT, there are some signs that are indicative of grown carrots.  More on that in a minute.
2.  Carrots will not go bad underground if you don’t harvest them right away.  Some say that a light frost will make carrots even sweeter.  So, if your carrots were ready last week, or a month ago, they are still good to eat (maybe even better). 

Go find your seed packet.  -- What, you threw it out? No, you bought the starts from a nursery and can't remember the name? You need to find out the average length and diameter of the carrot varietal you planted.  When the carrots are ready or near ready to harvest, you will see a bit of the carrot poking up from the ground. You can then measure the diameter of the carrot top.  Compare that measurement to what the seed packet says the diameter should be.
It is likely that the carrot length will be appropriate if the diameter is appropriate.  But, when in doubt, just pull one of them up and see.

In May, I wrote a post about carrots and focused a bit on the lore and scientific evidence about using carrot seeds as a birth control.  Whether you believe it or not, if you are trying to get preggers, I would be careful to not eat a bunch of carrot seeds—just in case!

August is the time to start planting your fall garden.  Carrots are perfect cool weather plants.  Several varietals are great for all areas of the west: Purple Haze, Yellowstone, and White Satin.  Sunset Magazine has a great article about what to plant in your garden in August. Check it out here.  

Radishes

Sandra gave me a few radish seeds from a seed packet she picked up at Anderson's the weekend before last.  I pushed some seeds in with the carrots. They are supposed to be ready in only 30 days-- WHAT? 30 days, ridiculous. I will take a picture once a week (first picture is posted here it was taken one week after planting) to report on their progress.  Supposedly, the radishes and carrots live nicely together. When the radishes are done, we take them out and the carrot just moves into the radishes old home.  I will believe it when I see it.  

Radish History

Radishes were cultivated in Hellenistic and Roman society.  Their genus, Raphanus, "quickly appearing",  describes their quick germination period.  (See above-- Radishes supposed to be all grown up in one month!).  The radish is related to the turnip and mustard.  Since radishes grow so fast, you want to plant new seeds every week, in order to get a continuous crop.  Radishes are in season April-June and October to January (they are not into full hot sun). I hope that San Diego's June-Gloom, paired with the placement on the east facing porch will ensure that the radishes don't die of heat.  Since I have the radishes in a pretty shallow box, I am not expecting any massive plants.

Night of the Radishes

On a festive note, some folks in Mexico (Oaxaca to be precise) celebrate the Night of the Radishes (Noche de Rabanos) on December 23.   At the festival, radishes are the main event.  People enter their carved radishes in contests.  Some are themed radish carvings of the Nativity, saints, and buildings. Radishes were brought to Mexico in the 16th century and historians believed that monks in Oaxaca advised the local radish growers to carve their radishes to entice buyers.   Thus began the radish carving and the rest is history.  This year Oaxaca will celebrate its 112th festival of the radish.  If you are in town, check it out.  Or perhaps, we should have a honorary Noche de Rabanos at my house this year and all try to carve those little guys.  I should point out, that with coaxing radishes can grow pretty large.  Sadly, these radishes are merely ornamental.  So I am sure any radish carving that we do will be quite difficult since I am not sure how to get a hold of the giant radishes!

Nutrition Facts

These gems are pretty high in the vitamin count.  Here is a sample of just a few of their vitamin goodies:  folic acid, potassium, B6, magnesium, calcium, and more;)

In addition to the edible root, the leaves of this plant are also edible and can be tossed in a salad.  Has anyone ever nibbled radish leaf?  What does it taste like?

Carrots Come In Many Colors

Just bought carrot seeds. The little itty bitty carrots, not the long ones. I am anxious to plant the seeds, but the packet tells me that I have to wait until the fall. Perhaps it is too warm right now to plant carrot seeds. What if I put them out on the back patio where the morning sun is not as hot as the afternoon? Any advice?
I really like carrots and prefer to eat them cooked in butter (but who doesn't love food that is cooked in butter) until they are nice and sweet. I have also been all but obsessed with carrot ginger soup. Sadly, I have never loved raw carrots-I like them, just don't love them. And I really am not a fan of the baby carrots that the stores sell. Is it just me, or do they taste bland and horrid? I hope that home grown mini carrots will make me love raw carrots.
Carrot Memories
I don't have too many memories of by Grandpa Earl-my maternal grandfather. I lived in Rhode Island for about 9 short months when I was only four years old. After that, despite my yearly visits, I just cannot remember that much about him. Though, I do remember a few things- his little garden in particular. My gramps was all about growing his own veggies! And composting (I took a look in that old compost trash can a few years ago--yucky. Full of sand-like stuff and loads of spiders)! I distinctly remember him growing carrots, the full sized ones. Strangely, I don't recall ever eating these carrots, so I can only wonder whether my visions are of real life or a mere memory of a photograph of my grandpa with carrots. Either way, when I think of growing carrots, I think of Grampa Earl (sometimes called Earl the Pearl-- he couldn't have appreciated that nick name). I know many stories about him; but, by the time I was a teenager, he was already quite aged. I don't mean to say that he was very old, but he was certainly aged. Alcohol took a toll on his life and, sadly, shortened it. So I am left with the notion that my grandfather was a fisherman (those who have seen his basement in RI might remember the serious array of fishing supplies and various homemade fishing gadgets), a gardener, and a melodic whistler. This journey down memory lane reminds me that I have delayed in asking my grandma about which veggies my grampa used to grow. I wonder if she recalls the taste and variety. My granny is my only living grandparent, so I really need to absorb all the memories from her because time is the enemy now.
Since I have not yet planted any carrots, I have no picture to show for it. Perhaps I will try to find that picture that, may or may not exist, of Grandpa Earl and the carrots. I'll have to ask KD and my mom if they remember.


Because You Know You Want It: Some Fun Facts About Carrots!


There is a website called www.carrotmuseum.com --- Hmm. This website goes far into the history of carrots and carrot eating. I make no promises about the veracity of this website, but it sure is detailed. It reports that the carrot as we know it did not really emerge until the 1500s, though it reveals numerous documentations of earlier historical pictures of carrots (even orange carrots). It is referred to as the modern carrot, in contrast to the wild carrot. The wild carrot is from present-day Afghanistan and has a woody rough bitter spindly root. At some point in history, the modern carrot emerged and became domesticated. Bizarre, that the first domesticated carrots were not orange, but purple! Back in the day, the wild carrot seeds were considered medicinal. I can't possibly cover all the detail of this root


The Super Carrot Revealed! Don't know where you stand on GMOs but: Scientists in Texas have released a super carrot that helps people to absorb more calcium. It is still in the trial phase, but a carrot with 41% more calcium is pretty crazy. Check it out here
Or here.


Oh yeah, and eating carrots to improve nighttime vision is a myth... sorry.