Re: Carrot Week 2013

**sanderson** 7/11/2013, 12:08 pm

Had the same problem. I found that if I clicked on Review each time I posted a picture, then the next picture copied correctly.

quiltbea 7/11/2013, 6:03 pm

donnain.....To post a second photo from your computer you have to click on 'upload' at the bottom of the box then browse for a different photo as you did the first one. Same steps.

Or as sanderson says, click on 'preview' to see what you're posting, then click on the icon at the top and put in another photo.

.

mollyhespra 7/15/2013, 9:41 pm

Well, I checked on my Carrot Week carrots, and they're the thickness of a pencil, but getting really tall & bushy. I started them indoors in toilet paper tubes and set them out once it warmed up enough, but then we had some really cold nights and I'm a'fearin' they might bolt even though they're in their first year of life. I got them off eBay from a seller located in Turkey; I don't know if they're the "Black Knight" variety mentioned above. The seller described them as an "Anatolian Heirloom" so I call them "Anatolian Black". I guess if worse comes to worse and they bolt I can always just collect some seeds, but then I won't really be able to appreciate their actual texture & flavor. I don't remember carrots taking this long to mature when we grew them as a kid. Maybe it's due to the variety?

boffer 7/15/2013, 10:02 pm

donnainzone10 wrote:My Carrot Week square, planted April 17, has really taken off! Now I'm worried that they'll bolt and jeopardize my harvest. Can these carrots be saved?...

Here's what the carrot museum has to say about first year bolting. You'll have to decide if your climate is conducive to carrot bolting.
http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/qna.html#g20

I plant all my carrots in Mar and Apr, keep them very moist, and rarely have a plant bolt or get woody. They stay in the ground to harvest as needed, and they last into the next year. I haven't had any luck with succession planting as the museum suggests doing; they don't get big enough before the seasons change.

**donnainzone5** 7/15/2013, 11:18 pm

Thanks for the link, Boffer.

I didn't think that carrots were anything but annuals. I knew that they sometimes bolt, because I had a volunteer that grew about 3' high and subsequently proceeded to bolt. It grew in a crack between bricks, so I was unable to harvest the carrot.

Perhaps I should consider pulling most of the ones that are bolting. What do you think?

boffer 7/15/2013, 11:33 pm

Once they bolt, the flavor of the carrot changes for the worst as the plant puts energy into making the flower.

Perhaps leave a few just to watch; the flowers look a lot like Queen Anne Lace. Or you could let them bolt to collect the seeds.

darci.strutt 7/15/2013, 11:40 pm

Here's my "carrot week" carrots on July 12. Looking good so far. Not quite a full tub, but gosh darn it...they are carrot week carrots and still going strong! On a fun note, I did encourage a friend to do three different "Tidy Box" garden "squares" in her non-garden yard. That makes me happy! Another gardener is born....

Carrot Week 2013 - Page 12 Dsc01810

**Turan** 7/15/2013, 11:45 pm

Donna, A couple of mine bolt each summer, I think it is because of cold snaps in the spring. If you don't pull them when you see them starting to bolt the root changes and loses its sweetness and gets woody.

MOlly, I just looked on my seed packets and my Purple Sun carrots say 90 days versus the Nantes saying 70 days. So I would not be surprised if your Anatolian Black take similar length of time. I have some Nantes about ready to be pulled but the Purples are no where near ready yet.

mollyhespra 7/16/2013, 9:48 am

Turan wrote:

Molly, I just looked on my seed packets and my Purple Sun carrots say 90 days versus the Nantes saying 70 days. So I would not be surprised if your Anatolian Black take similar length of time. I have some Nantes about ready to be pulled but the Purples are no where near ready yet.

AH! Thanks, Turan. I'll keep checking them!

boffer wrote:
Once they bolt, the flavor of the carrot changes for the worst as the plant puts energy into making the flower.

Perhaps leave a few just to watch; the flowers look a lot like Queen Anne Lace. Or you could let them bolt to collect the seeds.

You know, I thought that too, boffer, when I posted yesterday, but then I got to thinking: wouldn't collecting seeds from carrots that bolt in their first year actually encourage/select for early bolting? I think what I'll do is actually leave a few that don't bolt in the ground and let them go to seed next year. Those are the seeds worth keeping, methinks.

boffer 7/16/2013, 11:04 am

mollyhespra wrote:...You know, I thought that too, boffer, when I posted yesterday, but then I got to thinking: wouldn't collecting seeds from carrots that bolt in their first year actually encourage/select for early bolting?...

That crossed my mind too, so I was hoping an experienced seed saver would chime in. My seed saving experience is limited.

**donnainzone5** 7/16/2013, 11:04 am

So, as soon as I finish my coffee, it's outside to pull some of my Carrot Week crop!

Pics to follow.

**donnainzone5** 7/16/2013, 11:06 am

Boffer and Molly,

That makes sense. And we did have some late frosts this spring. I'll probably have to use the woody carrots in soups and stews.

R&R 1011 7/17/2013, 12:21 pm

The groundhog got to my carrots again and has eaten ALL the leafy tops off my carrots. Should I pull them or will they be alright?

Goosegirl 7/17/2013, 5:52 pm

I would let them be for a bit, see if they sprout some more tops. Carrots are hardy.

GG

R&R 1011 7/17/2013, 8:03 pm

Goosegirl wrote:I would let them be for a bit, see if they sprout some more tops. Carrots are hardy.

GG

Thanks GG! Time will tell!

**donnainzone5** 7/18/2013, 11:25 am

If those carrots hadn't bolted, they would have grown up to be gigantic! There were still long, thin roots on the two I pulled.

Incidentally, I couldn't cut them, even with a Wusthof. I did cautiously try to bite into one, with the same results.

I steamed two small kurodas last night to go with my green salsa chicken.

CapeCoddess 7/18/2013, 5:33 pm

Does anyone have photos of colored carrot week carrots yet? Mine were a bust...

CC

**RoOsTeR** 7/18/2013, 7:30 pm

CapeCoddess wrote:Does anyone have photos of colored carrot week carrots yet? Mine were a bust...

CC

I accidentally keep eating all the ones I get before taking a picture Carrot Week 2013 - Page 12 1280598131

So far I have munched a single Atomic Red. A couple of yellow, white and orange. And very small purple one here and there. Next time I pluck one, I'll put them next to something really tiny to make the carrots look big Very Happy

**sanderson** 7/18/2013, 11:15 pm

Rooster, good idea. Next time I take a photo of my garlic hanging by the cow bells rope, I am going to hold them close to the camera. Like a fisherman holding out his catch at the camera!

Hoggar 7/19/2013, 12:02 pm

My first square of Rainbow Mix carrots has been very woody. In fact they are so hard you can't bite into them, you can peal a layer off of the out side and it is quite tasty but its only about a 16th of an inch thick.

I planted 3 squares in progression, one of them is all Red Dragon I haven't gotten any of those yet but one or two out of the second square have been quite tasty. Not really sure how to tell when to harvest them but we just wait till they start pushing up out of the ground. My first square never pushed up but several of the them have bolted.

R&R 1011 7/20/2013, 9:41 pm

I checked my kaleidoscope mix carrot week carrots the other day and they were still too small.

Ive been eating my scarlett nantes that I planted 2 weeks before carrot week. Im sure the groundhog eating the greens isnt helping them grow faster. Sad

bnoles 7/20/2013, 9:57 pm

That reminds me.... I need to go check on mine tomorrow.

**donnainzone5** 7/22/2013, 10:54 am

Pulled most of mine yesterday, kept the biggest ones for a future meal, chopped the little guys and added to a stir-fry.

Goosegirl 7/22/2013, 6:54 pm

I pulled the last of my Carrot Week carrots yesterday, because I needed the box to replant my husband's aloe vera which has fallen out of the pot and sprawled over the basement floor! I left the 2 pimiento plants in the box, put in all the aloe vera babies, and he took it down to his basement office to his plant light. Will get pics of the carrots before I eat them. I have 4-5 Cosmic Purple's and one Rainbow Mix (it's a white one, that was flowering and getting ready to go to seed Shocked

. Thought carrots were supposed to be biennial).

GG

CapeCoddess 7/23/2013, 10:56 am

Interesting that we're not getting photos of the colored carrot week carrots like we did with the Nantes last year...I'd love to see some.

It's a mystery.

thinking

CC

Sponsored content


	Hello Guest! Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum. There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.