How to Grow Carrots: Easy to grow carrots are the perfect health food

Carrots are a classic garden crop that can be grown in any climate. They are a cool-season vegetable, so they should be planted as soon as the soil has warmed up enough to work with. With just a bit of planning and care, you can have a successful harvest of delicious carrots.

The humble carrot (Daucus carota) is a root vegetable often claimed to be THE perfect health food. Rich in polyacetylene antioxidant and falcarinol they are crunchy, tasty, and highly nutritious. Carrots are part of the Apiaceae or Umbelliferae family, along with dill and fennel.

In the kitchen both the tops and bottoms of carrots can be widely used. A friend of mine recently used carrot tops to bulk out a fabulous pesto while basil was limited during the Coronavirus lockdown.

These days carrot roots come in a rainbow of colors, sizes, and shapes, they’re also quite simple to grow with the benefit of not having too many pests and diseases to worry about.

The Ancient Roots and Ongoing Popularity of the Carrot

The edible carrot we know today descended from wild ancestors that originated in Afghanistan and surrounding regions. Early carrot cultivation began in the Mediterranean well before the Christian era. From there, carrots spread across Europe and Asia over the centuries, eventually arriving in England by the 1600s.

Carrots came to North America with colonists who planted the hardy vegetable to sustain settlements. The vegetable thrived across various American growing zones. Carrots had been beloved in European kitchens since the Middle Ages and retained popularity in colonial cooking.

A biennial, carrots form leafy tops their first season while developing downward taproots for energy storage. After overwintering, carrots send up tall flowering stalks that self-pollinate and produce seeds for future generations. Selective breeding over time has yielded many carrot colors, shapes, and sizes.

In the kitchen, carrots offer crunchy texture and bright, sweet flavor. They provide bountiful beta-carotene, an antioxidant that converts to vitamin A. Cooking mellows and concentrates carrots’ sugars. People enjoy carrots raw, roasted, blended into soups and baked goods, and preserved via canning, freezing or dehydrating.

From ancient Afghan origins to ubiquity today, the carrot has sustained palates and health for millennia. Gardeners worldwide continue refining this nutritious root crop adored for its versatility in the kitchen across cultures.

Where to Grow Carrots

Worried about where to grow your carrots? Nothing to worry about here, carrots are not really fussy at all! You can plant carrot seeds in the ground, within raised beds or on the patio in tubs – carrots can be grown just about anywhere.

Carrots taste best when they are grown really quickly and good soil preparation is paramount here. Compost is good and, depending on the carrot varieties you going to grow, a nice deep topsoil layer is important.

Best soil for carrots

Carrots, in common with all root crops, are most successfully grown in a deep, rich, light loamy, or sandy soil, which has been well manured for a previous crop. If your soil is heavy clay, consider adding some peat moss or sand to improve drainage and reduce compaction.

In the Home Garden it is not always possible to secure a piece of ground as recommended and should the soil be poor a dressing of well decomposed stable or farmyard manure (or where this is not obtainable, Bone Dust and Superphosphate Mixed) should be thoroughly worked well down into the soil some weeks before the seed is sown. Never place fertilizer less than a foot from the surface or forked roots will be the result. Work the soil up very fine, and if in a dry state or very loose, press hard by stamping after the seeds are sown.

Planting carrot seeds

Planting Carrots. Carrots need a location that receives full sunlight, though they can tolerate partial shade. Soil must be loose, sandy, and airy so that carrot roots can easily push down through the soil.

Carrot seeds are very small, so it’s best to mix them with some dry sand before broadcasting them in the prepared bed. Sow seeds outdoors every 3 to 5 weeks. Sow seed thinly, in rows for early varieties and later varieties. Sow the seed in drills 12 inches apart for the small varieties, such as Early Horn and Chantenay, 15 inches apart for St. Valery, and from 18 inches to 2 feet apart for all larger growing sorts.

Keep the seedbed moist until germination occurs (usually 7–14 days).

Thin out to 3 in. apart as soon as the plants have four leaves or are about 10cm high.

The Early Horn, Chantenay, Guerande, and other stump rooted varieties are best suited for Autumn planting in the Home Garden as they mature quickly. For general planting it is immaterial whether the long or stump rooted varieties are used.

Successful sowings of Carrot can be made, almost throughout the year, and where watering facilities are available, seed may be sown right up to late Autumn. The earlier sowings will be ready to pull about the start of Summer and where seed is sown up, Carrots can be obtained right through the late Autumn, after which time the plants will run to seed.

General Carrot Care

Keep the ground loose on the surface by working frequently with a hoe and should it become caked, draw a rake or harrow across the rows to break or open it up. When seed is sown in cold weather, and is not likely to germinate before hoeing becomes necessary, a few seeds of Radish or Cress should be sown at the end of each row to mark the position.

When seedlings are well above the ground, thin out with a narrow draw hoe, and finally single the plants by hand. The Early Short Horn and similar varieties should be left 4 inches and the larger sorts, 6 inches apart in rows. Dig the late crops at the beginning of Winter and cut off the tops, afterwards pitting either in sand, in a cellar, or covering with earth in the open ground.

Carrots left too long in the ground without being lifted are in danger of being spoiled by starting into fresh growth or being attacked by pests. Keep the ground between the rows well cultivated whilst the crop is growing so as to allow air through the soil and also to conserve the soil moisture. Be careful to cultivate shallow for fear of damaging the roots. Early Short Horn, Guerande or Oxheart, Chantenay, and Summer Favorite, are stump rooted varieties. James Scarlet Intermediate, and St. Valery are long varieties; all these sorts are suitable for the Home Gardener. Carrots, such as Large Red Altringham, White Belgian, and Yellow Belgian, are Field Carrots, grown solely for feeding cattle and horses.

Water regularly during dry spells and feed lightly every few weeks with an organic fertilizer such as fish emulsion or compost tea.

Harvesting Carrots

Carrots will be ready for harvesting after about 70 days from seeding; however, you can pull young ones earlier if you want “baby” carrots! Simply pull them out by hand when they reach finger size or larger. Be careful not to damage other roots while harvesting!

How to Cook Carrots for Any Kitchen

• Prep – Peel if you want. Cut into sticks, coins, cubes or desired shape.
• Steaming – Steam over boiling water for 2-5 minutes until still crunchy.
• Roasting – Toss with oil, salt, and pepper. Roast at 425°F for 20-30 minutes, flipping once.
• Braising – Simmer in broth for 15-20 minutes until super soft and tender.

Growing carrots is relatively straightforward once you understand what type of conditions they need for optimal growth and production. Planting in light sandy soils with plenty of organic matter ensures that your carrot crop will thrive throughout its growing season! With some careful preparation and regular maintenance such as keeping weeds down, watering consistently during dry spells, and lightly feeding every few weeks with an organic fertilizer like fish emulsion or compost tea – you’ll have a successful harvest of delicious carrots.