Spring Carrots

 

Last week I checked under the tarps and leaves in my carrot patch and the ground was still frozen. On Friday I dug down and found carrots ready to harvest. So yesterday I dug them all up. I ended up with a 5 gallon bucket filled to the rim and a little over - so around 6 gallons of carrots. But some of them had little black blemishes and I have learned that while they are still good to eat the ones with blemishes spoil quickly. And worse yet they contaminate the unblemished carrots. So I ruthlessly picked through the carrots and discarded the ones with the dread 'black spot'. I gather it is a harmless carrot mold. After the ruthless cull I still ended up with 4 gallons of fresh spring carrots. I also kept some of the blemished ones to eat quickly in the next few days - And I kept them separated from the others!

In the Fall I intentionally harvest all the carrots near the edge of the raised bed (those do not winter as well because near the edge they are subject to thaw and more water). Then I cover the bed with like 5 inches of dried leaves, then a triple folded tarp, and finally a layer of plywood over the top to hold it all down. All the layers insulate the carrots and keep them dry. So when they freeze they stay frozen until the spring thaw. I have learned that if they thaw and re freeze they turn to mush.

What's funny is that in the fall I harvested about 4 gallons of carrots before I covered them in leaves. So I basically had carrots most of the winter and now I have them in the spring too!

I also noticed that my garlic is finally sprouting. In the fall I had covered the garlic bed with leaves and grass clippings. I had covered it a little deeper than usual and was a little worried that the garlic would not be able to poke through. But I guess I did not need to worry!

Patrick

sprouting garlic and if you look close a worm