Carrots – My Story
Carrots, it seems one of the most common vegetables out there. But I have never been able to grow them. So this spring I set out to try to grow that little orange veggie. I did some research on YouTube and found a guy that really seemed to know his stuff when it came to carrots. Actually, he had a beautiful garden area so I’m sure he knew his stuff when it comes to all garden facts.
Carrots
A carrot is a root veggie and is probably one of the most popular vegetables. It can be eaten raw and fresh making a perfect snack food. Then it can be cooked usually served with a meat and rounds out a perfect plate. It is a source of beta carotene, fiber, vitamin K1, potassium and antioxidants.
Companion Planting
So, with this new information, special items for the bed, and my seeds I set out last weekend and planted a CPR garden. What is a CPR garden you ask? It is a companion planted garden with carrots, peas and radishes. The back of the garden has lattice so a perfect place to put peas. Then I put radishes all around the outside of the garden perimeter to protect the carrots that are in the middle of the garden.
Carrot Fact: We think of carrots as orange, but they can also be white, yellow, red, and purple.
Soil+
But, I am getting ahead of myself and not telling you about the foundational and most important part of any garden is the soil. We work on our soil by building it with compost. We actually have three different compost piles working at all times. This helps us to have black gold in our gardens which is so important.
Remember when I mentioned above doing my research off of YouTube? The guy mentioned adding bone meal and perlite to the soil. Perlite helps keep the soil lose and helps keep moisture in the soil. The bone meal acts as a fertilizer to the plants. So, with a good foundation of soil and the bone meal and perlite I am hoping to start my carrot planting.
It’s Working
We have had some nice rain days over the week with some nice weather. The garden has been in for 8 days and the radishes are coming up. It is so exciting to see green coming up in the garden. It’s still too early to know the truth about how my carrots will grow but I promise to keep you updated and let you know how it goes through the summer.
Did You Know: Carrots can be traced back about 5,000 years through historical documents and paintings. People first grew carrots as medicine, not food, for a variety of ailments.
Your Turn
Do you grow carrots? Tell me about it.