Raw carrots, carrots dipped in oil, carrots in smoothies or juices, or simply boiled and garnished with olive oil.
Our favourites are the ones in the carrot cake, though, as they’re the yummiest. It doesn’t really matter the shape you like them in, truth is that instead of buying carrots at the supermarket or at the greengrocer, you can plant your own. Yep, that’s right.
Carrots, properties and benefits.
Carrots are sweet and tasty, but most of all, they’re good for you. They’re a source of minerals, vitamins, fibres, sugars … and they’ve always been associated to our aesthetic health, thanks to beta-carotene and vitamin A, which our body uses to keep our eyes healthy, and protect our skin from aging.
Planting Carrots.
If you want to plant carrots, you should know that they get used to several weather conditions and that they can be planted in different times of the year. That’s why you get the impression that you can always find carrots when you want them. But in fact, planting carrots has three different moments:
- a) January-March is for early carrots that are destined to spring productions,
- b) April-May is for the end-of-summer carrots,
- c) August-October is for late carrots that can be picked in late winter.
And since May is the month of greenery, it’s the perfect month for planting, guess what, greens! That’s why it’s the perfect time to plant carrots!
How to Plant Carrots.
Carrots’ small seeds have to be planted with some sand, or if you want to plant them in a row, you should aid yourself with a strip of paper and some natural glue. Don’t worry if you can’t see results soon, it might take a while before you can see something growing, carrots can take also up to a month to show, so be patient! As soon as the 4th leaf shows, it’s time to check if the plants are too close to each other. If that’s the case, you should thin them out, leaving around 5cm between one and the other, and getting rid of the ones that haven’t grown properly.
Carrots in a vase.
Carrots can also be planted in a vase, the trick is to pick one of the following varieties: Oxheart, Little finger or Nantes. Once you’ve picked your favourite, put them in a deep vase (at least 40-50cm deep). Once you’ve become a bit of an expert, you can also try the round varieties, such as Thumbelina, Parmex, or Red Parisian. Make sure that the vase is in the sun. Carrots are very resistant, but you might want to plant some garlic or shallot at the edges of the vase, to keep away some parasites such as the carrot fly.
Picking Carrots.
Carrots are ready to be picked around two months after you plant them, or rather when their diameter has exceeded 1cm. They shouldn’t be left too long in the ground after that, as otherwise the heart of the carrot will become really hard. When they’re ready take them out of the ground, but make sure to water the ground a lot in the days preceding the picking, as this will make it easier!
If you can’t wait to taste some carrots and your plants have still a while to go, you can always try some Vegan Cookies with Carrots …