Garden: Project Carrots

I have grown carrots with minimal success in the past. By minimal, I mean edible but very short, stubby and sometimes mutated. Either I have the wrong soil composition or too much water or too little water or too much light or not enough light or it's the wrong time of year to plant...I have no idea but that doesn't stop me from trying. You see, we love carrots around here. It's the one veggie that all of my kids love. We munch on them raw, with ranch dip, hummus, put it in soups, stir fry, banana zucchini bread, you name it...carrots are included. I even put them in salsa. So why don't I have carrots growing everywhere in my gardens? This year I'm going to try everything in my power to have home grown carrots. I did have a few carrots that I could pluck a few months ago..just enough to purree for Wyatt's first taste of solid foods. They were pretty, but see how small they were.



Picked Jan 2013--Wyatt's first baby food

 So after my great potato project last week I had an epiphany! Why not grow carrots the same way..in laundry baskets?  Well, today I gave it a shot. I took 2 out of the 4 laundry baskets I bought at the 99cent store and lined them with straw/dried grass from our yard. This will hopefully allow drainage and keep the dirt in. I then filled them with compost/soil and planted the seeds. I planted Red Cored Chantenay and Danver carrots which should be ready in about 75 days.  In the next week or two I'll plant the other 2 baskets with different varieties so I'll have a steady crop throughout the summer. I also planted some in the raised bed and in another pot mixed with sand along with radishes. Several different carrot projects going...surely we'll have some to munch on by Memorial weekend. Crossing my fingers.