Carrots survived the winter

[General Schvantzkoph]

Is this unusual?, my garden is full of carrots. I've been eating some of them for the last few weeks but I'm wondering if I should just leave them alone for a few months and hope they grow to a reasonable size. My carrots have always been stunted, usually just an inch long, never more than three inches, maybe giving them two seasons to grow is what they need to reach a normal size. The carrot variety is Danvers. I'm in Massachusetts so I assumed that Danvers which is a New England carrot would do best but it's been a disappointment. However it's ability to survive the winter seems to be a redeeming feature.

[rossr35253]

Unfortunately, any of your over-wintered carrots you want to eat, you will have to eat soon. Carrots are biennial so they will be going to seed this year. On the plus side of the ledger, they are an heirloom variety and you should be able to harvest true to type seeds for planting next year. One caveat to this though, if you have Queen Anne's Lace (wild carrot) growing nearby they will readily cross pollinate.

Ross.

[Suzanne D.]

No, they won't get bigger. What will happen is that they'll start to put out little rootlets and become tough, as they prepare to make seeds this year. The good news is that, since carrots grow so well throughout the winter where you live, you can plan to have year-round carrots, even if they are small. Plant fewer seeds, but more regularly (every three weeks or so), and you'll have a steady supply.

--S.

[General Schvantzkoph]

That's a good idea, I'll do a monthly seed planting. I'm going to try parsnips this year, is the same thing true for them?

[Billy]

Yes.

[Coffee's For Closers]

Try sprinkling some ground-up Viagra on them.

Seriously, though, is your soil very dense, maybe difficult for them to grow downward? Or perhaps they feel an incentive to grown down, due to too much moisture near the surface?

[General Schvantzkoph]

The ground is dense. I think I'll work in some peat moss this year.

[Billy]

A technique that I'll try this year is to use a dibble made from a shovel handle, or some such, or even a crowbar, to make a 9" deep hole, and fill it with potting soil for planting carrots/parsnips. If you have parsnips, now is the time to eat them. The cold makes them sweeter.

[Jeff Thies]

I just harvested my crop that I planted about this time last year. Temps had been down in the teens for a week this winter.

They were an odd lot, one was completely round, none more that a few inches. Still crisp, and fabulous in a pot roast. Nice carrot flavor.

I'll try not to do that again this year. I have a "wishing well" and some potting soil for this years patch.

Jeff