The Dark Knight Strikes

Today my daughter and I harvested some carrots that I planted in (very late) fall.  Since my wife and daughter have come to favor Lunar White (wife) and Cosmic Purple (daughter), I decided to make room for some squares made up exclusively of those varieties.  (Yes, I messed up with Carrot Week on the timing on our harvest... )

Here's a shot of what we harvested:



We showed the carrots to our neighbor right after they were pulled them from the ground.  He asked if these were something we grew when we lived in California... and I told him I found out about them on this forum.

You can see some of our Dark Knight deeply purple carrots interspersed.  I offered our neighbor a Dark Knight... and he immediately said and emphatic "NO!"  We both laughed after that.

I am expecting the last component of my compost very soon and shortly after that I will be preparing my beds for planting.  I can't wait!

Windmere, Beautiful looking carrots. I think some of the unusual looking colors and shapes available today encourages people to try more veggies.

That is a beautiful harvest Windmere.... Excellent job!

Looking good Windmere.

Love the harvest! Your neighbors don't know what they are missing!

GG

He said no?!? Everyone I've showed the colorful carrots to has been eager to try one. Too bad.

Wonderful harvest! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks very much for your kind words everyone.  It's nice to have some tangible benefits from our garden.  And you really can't get these super special colors from too many places (and the Dark Knights I have NEVER seen in any store/farmer's market).

 

What a fun looking bunch!

The most beautiful carrots I've ever seen!

donnainzone10 wrote:The most beautiful carrots I've ever seen!

Awww... thank you so much!  We had quite a bit of fun raising these and we look forward to making it a continuous habit.

 

Thank you also Marc.  We sure did have fun growing them too!

So what are all the varieties shown? They are beautiful!

Thanks Martha.

White = Lunar White
Red = Atomic Red
Orange = Bambino
Purple = Cosmic Purple
Dark Purple (almost black) = Dark Knight
Yellow = Solar Yellow

Thank you! Adding to my seed orders!

Windmere, I have another question for you. I haven't actually had success growing carrots. I was going to skip them this year, but you have re-inspired me. What do you do besides plant them in Mel's Mix, water and wait?

Hi Martha,

Well... I don't know that I am much of an authority, but I can tell you what happened with me.

My first attempt last spring, I did not direct sow my seeds.  That was a disaster.  My second attempt, I planted my seeds too late... so my poor plants got hit with blistering temps.  This led to anemic plants with woody and worthless roots.

I planted these carrots in very late fall when temps were still relatively warm, but not oppressively hot.  They were planted in MM that was freshly revitalized (after summer crops) with a generous five compost combo.  I kept the plants moist, and thanks to the forgiving nature of MM, they were never over or under watered.

Since carrots favor colder weather, they grew well (albeit slowly).  These got enough of a start that they over wintered quite well, even when temps got in the 20's.  Their bushy tops peeped out through the snow and stayed a vivid green.

My first two attempts were really dumb moves... so I was amazed that I had any success at all.

Thanks. I think I will focus on making sure my carrot bed is generously revitalized, and try again. I have had a few crops that I have tried a few times, almost given up on, and then ended up with amazing success, like lemon grass, so here's to carrots in 2014! 

This is one of the reasons this forum is so great.  Thanks for all the information about what worked and what didn't work.  those carrots are sure a good testimony to your persistence.  And the neighbor didn't want one?  Lucky you.

martha wrote:Thank you! Adding to my seed orders!

Martha, 

There are many combo packs from lots of companies that include a bit of each of these colors.  The Dark Knight is something that will need to be purchased individually.

kauairosina wrote:This is one of the reasons this forum is so great.  Thanks for all the information about what worked and what didn't work.  those carrots are sure a good testimony to your persistence.  And the neighbor didn't want one?  Lucky you.

I chuckled at that.  Lucky me indeed!  I'm afraid to say I also got a chuckle from the shock value these beauties generated.