First year growing carrots

[NarnianGarden]

That's great. The instructions on Nantes say it's not for storage - unlike the 'winter carrots' -, but good to know they keep well in proper conditions.

I'm gonna have a carrot snack now..

[oakley]

I've not paid much attention to storage. I pick up seed packets at the end of season or when i order from Johnny's i check the sale list. I must have grown a few dozen varieties over that past 15 yrs. If i was a market gardener i may have a different approach.

I also store mine in the downstairs crisper drawers of an older fridge used for garden harvest and overflow. Good cold temps and rarely opened.

[bower]

Hudson, thanks for posting pix your place is BEE U TEE FULL!!!! Wow!

My Dad used to grow enough carrots for the winter but he didn't have good luck with storing them in the cellar that long. His root cellar was fine for potatoes but there was a tendency to get wet some drainage issues and even on times six inches of water to wade through at the bottom, so the atmosphere was damp. He tried a couple of experiments, storing carrots in sand one year, then he tried packing them in moss and stored in my root cellar (which is cool and also dry) the year after. But no matter where he put them or how he packed them, they were getting hairy by March! and after that would start to rot.

Maybe it was the variety he was growing, not so good keepers. For sure people here kept carrots all winter in their root cellars, years ago....

[Hudson_WY]

Thanks Bower - we love where we live!

I don't have a root cellar - although I wish I could justify or afford the cost to do it right. We have good drainage here and produce stores great in cellars of my neighbors that have one.

We have stored carrots in sand in the same shop as where we store our onions. I keep the temperature at 40° F. This photo was taken on March 6th. They continued to store a couple of more months that year. I layered the carrots (making sure they didn't touch each other in the layer) in the bucket changing directions the carrots lay on each layer with about 1" of sand between the layers so the layers did not touch each other. I like storing them in sand and will do it again when I have the energy - haha.

NarnianGarden - I doubt I will quit growing Nantes because the instructions say they won't store. Maybe that is a variety or environment specific? Good that gardeners have the warning though. They store for us great - even better in sand!! How can one argue they don't store when the ones in sand were still crisp, sweet and firm in May? I can highly recommend Scarlet Nantes Carrots for taste and storing. They bottle and freeze well too! Just my experience in the high elevation of Wyoming!

[bower]

That is excellent to know, both your method in sand and crisp Nantes in May!!! Sounds good to me. I have grown Nantes and found them not bad at all.
I have Chantenay seeds and also some Cosmic Purple, so far, so for sure I'll be growing these next season, and hope I grow enough to test that sand in bucket method in my cellar! It really should work, as my cellar is quite dry and the temperature steady, I believe it is right around 40 F too.

[NarnianGarden]

Hudson, I don't doubt you at all! Just saying I was surprised at your good success, since all seed packages here describe Nantes as summer carrots, i.e., not suitable for winter storage, and specifically warn about that trait. Good to hear you guys have a different experience.

I have never grown so called winter varieties as I loved Nantes, plus the 'mixed heirloom' seeds that produce purple, yellow and white carrots. Someone also kindly sent me Atomic purple, which may or may not be the same already included in my 'mixed colors'.
But this year, I'll sow them all in buckets again, NOT in raised beds - too much shadow from nearby flowering plants..

[rockman]

Hudson WY, great gardens and pictures. Are there no weeds or critters in Wyoming? We have the same setup on a much smaller scale. With the deer, ground hogs and raccoons to name a few, we have to fence with hot wire to grow anything. Do you pull or cut off your carrots to thin? rockman

[Hudson_WY]

Hi Rockman - Thanks! Yes - we have critters but our dog and cats patrol the yard and garden for us pretty good and only voles will sometimes do damage to our beans and peas but I plant enough extra for them. The deer, elk and moose are seen off and on during the winter months but they have more than enough to eat close to the foot hills to bother us in the garden during the garden months. We have few insects in our cold climate but do have slugs to contend with. Wyoming is pretty much the perfect location to grow whatever you want - that is - that you can harvest in 40-45 days - haha - but so true! Frost is our biggest threat as we get or can get snow and frost every month of the year. Last year we had frost about every 10 days from June - Sept. And of course heavy frost from Oct-May. A GH is a must if you want to grow warm weather crops like tomatoes, corn and cucumbers here! We always have to cover beans, strawberries, usually raspberries, potatoes, squash, etc. Our coldest temperature this winter so far was -35° F about 10 days ago.

We have plenty of weeds - that's my job
I thin our carrots by pulling them after a good watering

Photo: This moose was checking out our field and I got a pic of her before she took off.
Photo: This is us nestled along a cottonwood lined stream in a beautiful Wyoming Mountain Valley.

[EPawlick]

Awesome! Picture perfect.

And I thought our winters were long and cold.

[rockman]

I would trade our 6 mos. grow season for your quality 45 days and I would gladly build a GH. It sounds good but we do well caring for our little garden, plus raspberry and gooseberry patches. We have a 30' wide creek along side our garden which creates a big challenge. And yes I've pulled beets wearing hip waders and they sure came up clean. Went to the Grand Canyon for the 1st. time last Oct. Looking out from the southern canyon rim, compared to your landscape and view, both are priceless! Yes we have Voles also and they love sweet potatoes. Slugs love the ends of our strawberries. See if my wife will attach couple pics.

[Hudson_WY]

What a beautiful garden and location Rockman!! I love your windmill! We couldn't afford one like yours (and we looked for months - even for a used one) so we purchased a kit instead and built our own out of wood for decorative purposes only. The head operates though and we enjoy having it in the yard. We can't grow most of what I see in your garden without a low or high tunnel. In the future I hope to built a high tunnel for corn, pole beans and all of the other veggies I see in your garden. I saved a spot (that is grass now) just waiting for a hoop house at the end of my garden. Our challenges are sure different - I see what you were talking about with your fence and it must work because your plants look awesome! My garden is totally fenced and I would only have to install horse wire to the existing fence if critters became a problem. I also like the way you have planted grass down between your rows. As long as I plow and rototill my garden with my tractor - I obviously can't do that in my garden although I did plant grass on both sides and between my rows of raspberries. I plow and rototill tons of nutrients into the soil every fall including steer manure. I am not organic but I improve the soil every year that we garden! I think your photos are getting me excited to get outside and start gardening! I will plant my tomato seeds in two weeks under grow lights and move them to our heated GH the middle of March. I won't be able to plant anything in the raised beds until the middle of April (of course it will freeze often until June) and nothing in the garden (except onions and peas) without a frost cover until the first week in June. Even in June we have to cover the beans, squash etc with a frost blanket for a month and then watch the weather daily and cover - then - uncover them several times during June, July and August!

[PhilaGardener]

Great looking gardens, Folks!

@Hudson_WY , that Moose seems to be looking for carrots!

[bower]

Hudson, it sounds like your growing season is identical to ours.
My area and property is more wooded, so the moose and snowshoe hare do consider it their own. But slugs are still our worst enemy in the garden.
Your soil looks fantastic!

[b54red]

That is some great looking dirt. Here it is just a mix of sand and clay.

I just planted my last batch of carrots for the year and hope to get good gemination. I have one little patch mulched now that they are about 3 to 4 inches tall and will try to mulch the second bed soon but they are still small. I use pine bark fines to mulch and it seems to really make a difference in the quality of my carrots. The trouble with pine bark fines is you need to make sure before you put them down that all the tiny weeds are gone or they will grow through them and you will still have to weed some. I only plant about 10 to 12 feet of carrots at a time but I try to start that amount 2 or 3 times so that I have carrots coming in over a longer time. I really love them fresh out of the ground once washed off of course.

Bill

Bill

[rockman]

I won't complain again about having to cover plants because of 1 or 2 late frosts in May! Added the 1923 Aermotor in 07. Fixed 13 bullet holes in the sail and had the motor rebuilt. Our plan is to build a wooden water tower in the middle of the garden. The plastic tank will be wrapped in wood. I can picture that next to your wooden mill. For now we just pump the drums full. We also are always looking for organic plant food. The deer bed down in the woods on the snow and supply manure. I Bluegill ice fish and the remains go under the tomato plants. Have to keep in freezer till I activate the fence because the raccoons would get an easy meal. We try to make a different snow scene Christmas card of our property each yr. and both agree your windmill picture would be great. We would give a prize to the 1st person that recognizes it's not our place . Ha! Here's a photo of our water source.