carrots

[greenfingers007]

Sorry if this has already been asked (i had a quick search through the forum but couldnt find anything linked), when are carrots ready to be picked ?

[zazen999]

Hi

It depends on how big you want them...alot of people will grow them and thin them out when the carrots are smaller, leaving the others to grow on. They will push each other apart if there is space, as they grow. They will use the thinnings in salads etc - I use mine chopped in soups [pea soup last weekend as a matter of fact].

If you are unsure, have a feel around the carrot top - if it's about an inch diameter, it might well be big enough to pull and eat. Pull one and see what it looks like.

The problem with alot of veg is that you don't know until you try!!! You could have a look on the back of the packet and work out how long it need to be in the ground and work forwards from when you sowed them...

[gojiberry]

When they are big enough to eat. I have been eating baby carrots for about 6 weeks now, keep thinning until you end up with a carrot about every 2 inches. They will then grow on to give big carrots through the winter.

Ian

[Lurch]

Cheers for advice, my first year with carrots, so will help me too. Mine are ready for thinning in about 2 weeks.
I heard there is a bug which likes carrots once you start picking them, i dont know the name of it, but apparently they dont like marigolds, so i have planted some along my line to discourage them.

[Demeter]

Lurch - think you mean carrot fly. They find carrots mainly by smell, so anything to mask the smell will hopefully make life more difficult for them! Marigolds are pretty smelly and the ohter one that people seem to use is onions / garlic and family, which are nice and smelly too!

[lynda66]

i've put my sons trainers under the cloche ..... they could mask freshly laid cow eggs

[Lurch]

lol, i got spring onions in between my rows so that should help too. I like the trainers idea tho, perhaps i should leave my work boots there whe i come home from a hard days graft.

[Demeter]

i've put my sons trainers under the cloche ..... they could mask freshly laid cow eggs

LMAO - I should try my daughter's - you wouldn't believe a 3yo could have such stinky feet! She looks so sweet and innocent too...

[lynda66]

lol i always had riding boots on when i was a kid and feet and rubber for 12 hours a day meant my feet were banned from the house till i'd stuck them in a bucket of disinfectant ....... theres many a time i've thought god whats that smell, and 2 mins later after following said whiff, theres been a pile of sons socks on the patio