Harvesting Carrots

In Beatrix Potter's "Tale of Peter Rabbit," Peter disobeyed his mother's wishes and crept into Mr. McGregor's garden and ate a bunch of fresh vegetables before he was spotted by Mr. McGregor and was promptly chased out of the garden.  I remember reading that book to Laura Lee when she was younger.  Fortunately, I constructed a good fence around the perimeter of our garden to keep Peter, Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail out of mischief.  As a result, we have numerous carrots that are ready for harvest.

Put on your boots, grab the colander and come along... 

We have had some pretty good rainfall lately which will make pulling the carrots easy.  In fact we don't even need to bring along a shovel.  We'll just grab the carrots by the greens and give a little tug and that's all there is to it.  The moderate December temperatures have really made the carrots grow quicker than normal and as we start to pull the carrots, they are a little larger than I'd like them to be, but we'll eat them just the same.



Here's a few freshly pulled carrots in the colander

The shot below displays a 'mess' of carrots with beautiful greens laying in a bed of winter grass and carrot tops.  The greens will be thrown over the fence to Daisy and Rosie who are standing nearby and will make quick work of making the greens disappear.


A nice tableau of carrots

This picture below illustrates just how big some of the carrots have gotten.  Sometimes when they get this big, they get a 'woody' texture and aren't much good for eating.  However, by the time I posted this, we've eaten all but six of them and they were delicious!

Carrots are believed to have come from Iran and Afghanistan.  Their bright color is attributed to Beta Carotene which turns into Vitamin A.  They are said to be very good for your eyesight, as well as high in fiber and antioxidants.  You can overdo it though, in eating them, and actually turn your skin orange!

Here is today's harvest all laid out and sprayed with a hose prior to bringing them inside.  I deliberately tried to pull all the biggest ones and will leave the smaller ones to continue growing.  I staggered my plantings of them so they'll mature at different times, ensuring we have plenty to eat fresh, blanch and freeze and can.


All washed up

I grow four different types of carrots.  The ones shown below are called Cosmic Purple carrots.  Don't adjust the color on your monitor.  How in the world do you figure they got that name? 

Cosmic Purple Carrots

And these are called Atomic Red Carrots...



Atomic Red Carrots

And finally just a plain, old, boring Orange Carrot in the middle with an interesting Parisienne Carrot on the far right.  Parisienne carrots are great in stews and soups (and not so great for peeling since they are round, so we normally just eat them without peeling them). 

Normal Berlicum Orange carrot in the middle and a distinctive, round Parisienne Carrot on the far right

The Cosmic Purple carrot below has an odd double tap root.  Benjamin said that it looks like it is running away - running away from Peter Rabbit, perhaps.


Carrot on the run

Since you've had your recommended daily allowance of carrots, I'll leave you with one final picture of some beautiful carrots washed and ready to be sliced up and cooked in some butter with a little salt and black pepper on top.

Nature's Bounty