Grow Your Own Carrots

Lesson 4: Looking After and Harvesting Young Carrots

On the Pull
If you adopted the strategy suggested in Lesson 2, you'll have some early carrots in the ground as well as main crop varieties. Early carrots can be ready for pulling between 7 and 10 weeks after sowing. It'll probably be a couple of weeks before your early crop is ready but you can start looking out for indications that the roots are becoming mature enough to eat. One tell-tale sign is that the foliage begins to wither. But you might want to enjoy your carrots slightly immature. They'll be deliciously sweet and crunchy if they're harvested young. The best strategy is to experiment by pulling a few. Not too many, though!

A Firm Hand
In the weeks leading up to harvest-time, keep the soil moist by regular watering if the weather is dry. But do try to avoid drenching very dry ground: fluctuations in the water content of the soil can cause carrots to split. A hand fork is a useful tool for lifting carrots without damaging the roots. After lifting, firm and lightly water the disturbed soil to discourage the attentions of carrot flies. Harvesting in the evening will also help guard against these pests. Carrot fly maggots burrow under the surface of the root, causing widespread damage (see picture). So, anything you can do to keep them at bay is worth a try.

Second Time Around
June is a good time to sow main crop carrots for lifting in September and October. If you've noticed that your first crop of carrots are dividing in two (a condition known as "fanging"), this means that the ground they were growing in was too stony or that it wasn't dug over and loosened sufficiently. The carrots are perfectly edible but it's probably a look you want to avoid. Make sure the ground where you sow your second crop is well loosened. Resist the temptation to add manure to the soil – this can cause fanging, too.

Pic: GAP Photos/FhF Greenmedia