I GREW A CARROT!!!!!

[Naughty]

My six yr old wants carrots and I try every year... but usually get tops and no carrots. I am trying something this year. I planted some seeds in a whiskey barrel planter filled with nice loose soil and miracle gro soil. I figure at least if the tops grow it will look pretty on my porch... I already have garlic out there and its going crazy.

 

[baymule]

I will try the hay method and the plywood method too. i tried the nurse crop idea. I have some tiny green feathers below the broccoli plants. They didn't grow very well. I tried inbetween tomatoes, but failed at that too. That darn book was even TITLED "Carrots Love Tomatoes." All I can say about that is my carrots didn't love MY tomatoes!!

I am so thrilled to finally get a real live carrot that I grew myself! I didn't peel it, I just grated it and we could see the tiny purple tips on the grated carrots. It was the best tasting carrot we ever ate. There are a few more in the garden and we will certainly enjoy them. I'll try again in the fall!

 

[thistlebloom]

When I grew my carrots in the half barrels I covered the seed with frost cloth, right on the soil surface. It worked really well keeping the soil moist, and it was light enough that I could leave it on for awhile once they germinated.

 

[ducks4you]

Carrots need lots of moisture to germinate well. I plant my carrots in a block rather than in rows. First I make sure the soil is moist either by sowing after a rain or by watering. Then I scatter the carrot seeds over the planting area and cover lightly. Finally, I put a plywood over the area that is held about 3 inches off the soil surface. This way the seeds are kept cool and moist and they are less likely to be affected by drying winds.

Works for me.

Love, Smart Red

That is brilliant. I'm definitely gonna try this, bc last year I got my first carrot crop!! They were SO tasty. I have bricks to use to hold up the plywood. I've got the carrot bug now, so thanks for sharing.
Did you know that Lowe's throws away cuts of wood? I go there pretty regularly on Mondays to buy leftover cuts. You get the suburban customers who don't want to take the whole pieces, probably bc they don't have any room to store them, but I do. Sometimes I get the pieces for 25 cents, sometimes for $1, but always less than buying them whole, and I continue to use them for gardening.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

I will try the hay method and the plywood method too. i tried the nurse crop idea. I have some tiny green feathers below the broccoli plants. They didn't grow very well. I tried inbetween tomatoes, but failed at that too. That darn book was even TITLED "Carrots Love Tomatoes." All I can say about that is my carrots didn't love MY tomatoes!!

I am so thrilled to finally get a real live carrot that I grew myself! I didn't peel it, I just grated it and we could see the tiny purple tips on the grated carrots. It was the best tasting carrot we ever ate. There are a few more in the garden and we will certainly enjoy them. I'll try again in the fall!

I tried that once, carrots between tomatoes and it did not work for me either. You almost have me wanting to plant purple carrots.

 

[secuono]

Congrats!
I cannot grow/sprout carrots to save my life...

 

[baymule]

I pulled another carrot yesterday. I only have maybe a dozen, so a carrot is really special around here. I also cut another first, purple cauliflower that I grew from seed. I tried cauliflower several years ago, but I bought plants and they didn't do so well. I planted Purple of Sicily seeds from Baker Creek last fall and am starting to get heads now. So I made another carrot salad and tossed in the purple cauliflower too! I am excited to try more carrots now! :tools

 

[897tgigvib]

Bay, make sure you remember when you planted these sudden successes so you can do a repeat with even more next year!