With a newfound appreciation for carrots, I decided to challenge myself and venture into unfamiliar territory – carrot cultivation! Despite the summer heat of 2018, my endeavor paid off as they grew well. It was an exciting experience growing something completely new; not only did it give me another gardening skill but also enriched my palette with fresh-picked flavor.
Carrot ‘Sweet Imperator Mix F1’
My curiosity grew as I observed the multicoloured ‘vintage’ carrots in my raised bed sprouting to life. But just as they were taking shape, a vengeful cat belonging to one of my neighbours launched an attack on them! In order to protect them from further destruction and give their vibrant green leaves some space, I hastily arranged tall wireframes around them. Knowing that these vintage varieties weren’t resistant against carrot flies, another variety was planted beside mine for extra safety – creating quite the helpful companion setup!
Carrot ‘Sweet Imperator Mix F1’, colour and flavour
The ‘Sweet Imperator Mix F1’ carrots I grew out this season delivered a colorful and truly unique harvest – some of their odd shapes were likely the result of stones, while others simply showed how much they desired water. But regardless of form or shape, all these vegetables had one thing in common: deliciousness! It’s safe to say that my collection was an impressive assortment… even if it wasn’t perfect.
Wonky carrots taste the same as normal carrots.
I recently experienced something unusual in my garden – purple carrots! After much anticipation, I tasted one and was not disappointed. This variety had a remarkable flavor compared to its orange counterparts, making them worth their while for next year’s crop.
Carrot ‘Flyaway F1 Hybrid’
I grew the Carrot ‘Flyaway F1 Hybrid’ with my Sweet Imperator. My hopes were that their “fly-way” tendencies would provide some protection from damage for both varieties – and to my delight, it seemed as if they had! These petite orange carrots produced beautifully tender sizes throughout the season, even when there was an occasional larger one here or there.
Carrot ‘Rondo’ (‘bowling carrots’)
I was delighted to receive a variety of gardening seeds as part of my present, including Carrot ‘Rondo’ from Suttons Seeds’ kids range. Unfortunately, they didn’t fair too well against the attack by our mischievous cat–yet surprisingly some still managed to rise up and sprout! Despite the packet’s expectation that these carrots may grow up-to 4cm wide, mine barely made it past 1.5cm – fortunately with no correlation between their size and ours heads!
As the chill of winter sets in, it’s time to harvest those last carrots and ready them for storage. After this summer’s heatwave, I’m sure some were oddly shaped – but don’t worry! They’re safe and sound now until next year when we can get another crop growing…and keep that pesky cat away from them once again.
