CyberSalad: Garden Pursuits: Vegetables: Carrots

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Daucus carota sativa

The carrot is a descendent of of the delicate wildflower, Queen Anne's Lace. As a biennial, if garden carrots were left for two years, one would see a lacy flower similar to that of it's ancestor. As a garden vegetable, carrots are treated as a warm-weather annual. Sandy soil will grow long rooted varieties well, but shorter rooted varieties will do better in clay and rocky soil. Carrots grow best in temperatures between 40º and 80ºF.
Carrot seeds are very tiny. Sow seeds about 4 to the inch, about ½ deep. Carrot seedlings are extremely tiny. Keep the soil moist and avoid crusting by covering with a light layer of vermiculite, sifted compost or grass clippings. As the seedlings appear, thin to 1 inch apart. When the carrots become ½ inch in diameter, pull every other plant, making the final spacing 2 inches apart. These small plants are delicious at this stage, so don't discard them. Use in salads or eat as they are.

	'Danvers Half Long', Fine-grained and tender with a very sweet flavor. Grows uniformly 7½ inches long, about 2½ inches wide tapering to a blunt end. 75 days to maturity.
	'Nantes Half Long', Nearly coreless, slim, cylindrical carrot up to 7 inches long, and 1½ inches thick. Fine-grained, tender and sweet, with delicious flavor raw, cooked, or frozen. About 70 days to harvest.
	'Mokum', One of the best flavored varieties with a rich sweetness that is good raw and for juicing. Some think it is the best carrot for growing in the south. Fine color, a small core, and very juicy and sweet. Matures in 70 days.

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Site launched January 1, 2000.
Site updated September 1, 2007.