Last fall, when the weather started to get really cold and the nights were starting to freeze, I had a bed of little carrots, about the size of my little finger. They were too small to harvest and eat. Although I guess they could have been eaten, but I wanted to try something else. I knew that full grown carrots would winter over in the ground and that you can harvest them year around. I wondered if I kept those tiny carrots in the ground if they would start to grow again as soon as it started to warm up, and if I planned everything right I could get three harvests of carrots this year.
I added about 6 inches of straw to help keep the temperatures consistent. I didn’t want the bed to freeze and thaw all winter long. I also covered the whole things with “floating row cover” to keep the straw in place.
Monday was beautiful, sunny and warm. I decided that it was time to wake up my carrots.
Under the cover, and the straw the first green shoots are coming up.
I pulled a couple up, they had gotten a bit bigger, not quite as big as I would like, but in 4 weeks, when it is time to plant the next crop of carrots they will be ready.
The bed was a mix of straw and dead carrot tops, when I was moving all the straw out of the box I found several red worms. That makes me happy, it means the soil is healthy.
Here is the bed all cleaned out, now the carrots will be able to get to the sun better.
All the straw and dead carrot tops were thrown in with the chickens.
They will scratch through it, pick out bugs and worms and eat the dead tops.
The straw will then mix with the chicken’s droppings, making wonderful fertilizer.
I am really happy with how my little carrot experiment worked out, and I can’t wait to start munching on fresh carrots in the next few weeks!
The bed was a mix of straw and dead carrot tops, when I was moving all the straw out of the box I found several red worms. That makes me happy, it means the soil is healthy.
Here is the bed all cleaned out, now the carrots will be able to get to the sun better.
All the straw and dead carrot tops were thrown in with the chickens.
They will scratch through it, pick out bugs and worms and eat the dead tops.
The straw will then mix with the chicken’s droppings, making wonderful fertilizer.
I am really happy with how my little carrot experiment worked out, and I can’t wait to start munching on fresh carrots in the next few weeks!
Those look A LOT bigger than any carrots we've ever grown here!
I'm trying carrots for the first time this year…I'm inspired by your success!!!
I've heard they're difficult to grow, but your carrots look awesome! Keep up the good work.
I'm so jealous of your little homestead! I'm moving from my garden in pots on the deck to tilling some of the back yard this year!
One of my friends left her potatoes and carrots in the ground all winter and have just been harvesting them as they need them for meals. I'm not sure what she covered them with, but it was super cool to have fresh potatoes and carrots right out of the ground for dinner at their house Sunday night 🙂
I didn't know you could do carrots like that. I'll remember that for next year!