Even for beginners when growing vegetables on their own, carrots are a grateful and productive vegetable in their own garden. They are sown directly outdoors and grow to a harvestable size within around three months.
How to grow carrots in the garden?
To grow carrots successfully in the garden, you need loose, humus-rich soil, a sunny location and crop rotation. Sow outdoors in rows from March four weeks apart for a consistent harvest from May to November.
Preparing the soil for growing carrots
The condition of the soil plays a very important role when growing carrots in raised or vegetable beds. Fresh stable manure should be incorporated as fertilizer in the fall before sowing at the latest in order to obtain loose and humus-rich soil. Adding fresh manure directly before sowing damages the plants and would also promote carrot fly infestation. When growing carrots, pay attention to:
- a loose and humus-rich soil
- a sunny and warm location
- the annual crop rotation with other vegetables
Old wild forms newly bred
When it comes to carrots, there is now a trend towards moving away from cultivated varieties in order to give priority to the strong aroma of old varieties. An example of this is the so-called Duwick carrot, which was increasingly cultivated around 200 years ago. With a length of around 5 - 9 centimeters, it is thick and tapered. Due to its high sugar content, it not only tastes very sweet but, unlike other varieties, it can also partially overwinter in the ground under straw.
Carrots for humans and animals
As a root vegetable, carrots are a very low-calorie vegetable with lots of vitamins and carotene. Eating raw and cooked carrots is not only very he althy for humans, you can also safely feed carrots to your dog. An unhe althy dog snack can often be replaced with a crunchy treat from your own vegetable patch.
Carrots for fresh consumption
Carrots taste really tasty and crunchy when they have just been harvested fresh from the ground. In particular, varieties such as the small and spherical Paris market carrots are less suitable for storage and should be eaten raw or cooked. If the carrots in your vegetable patch have grown too close together, you can also pull out individual young carrots so that there is an optimal distance of at least five centimeters between the carrots.
Storage for the winter
Carrot varieties with very long main roots, such as this Nantaise variety, are primarily suitable for storage in the cellar. They must be dug up before the first frost and stored in a dry sandbox in the cool basement. For your pets with teething teeth, you can also slice carrots and then let them air dry.
Tips & Tricks
If you plan the sowing of carrots in your garden cleverly, you can consistently harvest fresh carrots directly from the bed from approximately May to November. To do this, sow the individual rows at intervals of four weeks from March onwards.