Carrots become more sweet and crisp after living through a few freezes! This is due to chill sweetening, a process by which plants convert starches to sugars. If you live in a mild climate, or if you are willing to erect protection like a polly tunnel, you can even sow seeds in the fall and harvest your carrots over the winter. For a fall harvest, sow seeds about 10 weeks before your first frost date, which usually ends up being mid to late summer. ![]() In spring, the seeds can be planted 3-5 weeks before your last average frost date. You can plant them in spring for a summer harvest or in summer for a fall harvest (or both). When and Where to Plant Carrot SeedsĬarrots do best when they grow in cool weather. Growing Purple CarrotsĬarrots do not transplant well at all, so the best method is to directly sow the seeds into your garden. Carrots can grow very well in raised beds and containers. You also have the option of planting carrots in raised beds or containers to avoid tilling. If you want a no-till garden, you should at least break up the surface of the soil so that your carrot seeds will be able to sprout and grow. Nitrogen encourages leaf growth and you want lots of root growth. Avoid adding manure or any other fertilizer that’s high in nitrogen. You can also mix compost into your soil at this time, which will both improve soil texture and add fertility to the soil. It’s delicious raw and cooked and makes a beautiful deep purple juice. ‘Black Nebula’– This carrot has an incredible purple-black color.Roots are sweet and purple all the way to the core, which is a pale yellow. ‘Deep Purple’– This is one of the darkest purple carrots.‘Dragon’– This very popular cultivar has magenta skin, an orange center, and a yellow core.‘Purple Sun’– This carrot gets 8-10” long and is dark purple all through with hints of orange in the center.‘Purple Haze’– Roots grow 7-8” long on this cultivar and have dark purple skin with bright orange centers.Great taste and easy to grow for home gardeners. ‘Cosmic Purple’– This carrot has bright purple skin and an orange or yellow interior.There are some great purple carrot varieties out there that have good flavor to go with their pretty appearance. Your carrots will be so sweet and crunchy you’ll look forward to growing them again as soon as possible! Purple Carrot Varieties Homegrown carrots are also unparalleled in flavor, especially after they’ve lived though a frost or two. ![]() However, if you’re willing to clear rocks and sticks from your soil and have patience, carrots are fairly low-maintenance after they’ve been planted and thinned out. Be prepared to have a little patience as you wait for your crop to be ready!Ĭarrot seeds are also small, slow to germinate, and have a lower germination rate than many other popular vegetables. Once you do this, planting your seeds and caring for your plants will be a much easier task.Ĭarrots can take a while to mature: anywhere from 2-4 months depending on variety and growing conditions. Properly preparing the soil before you plant your carrots will give you the best chance for success. They don’t do well with clay, compacted, or rocky soil. The biggest challenge with growing any type of carrot is getting roots that aren’t too misshapen or stunted. Many purple carrots have a yellow or orange center and are not purple all the way through: Carrots made their way into Europe by the 1100s, but orange and white carrots weren’t described by Europeans until the 1600s ( source). According to the World Carrot Museum, domestic carrots probably originated in the area of Afghanistan prior to 900 CE. Purple and yellow carrots are the “original” carrots. Carrot greens taste somewhat similar to a slightly more bitter parsley. The fern-like foliage of carrots is edible and can be used to make things like pesto. Some are long and thin, while others are short and stubby. Not only do carrots come in several different colors (like purple), they also come in different shapes and sizes. However, if you do want to collect carrot seeds, you’ll need to let your plants grow a second season. This is good for most gardeners, since they don’t have to worry about their plants bolting and going to seed ( source). sativus) is a biennial, which means it won’t flower until its second year of growth. Homegrown carrots grown in cool weather are crispy, sweet, and so delicious you’ll be trying to figure out how to plant even more next year. If you’ve ever though carrots were tough, woody, and bland, it’s probably because you ate store bought carrots grown out of season. Carrots may be one of the most humble vegetables, but you’ll be surprised at the flavor you can get out of a homegrown crop.
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