Medwyn Williams prepares to sow carrots
I’m hoping for better results this year now that I’ve cleaned out the beds
Last year I had better results with my ‘Sweet Candle’ carrots grown in the raised bed outside. The only issue was that the foliage never looked too good, with a yellow-reddish tinge to the leaves. My first thought was ‘oh no, carrot fly once again’, but it wasn’t the case as I’d covered the whole bed with fine grade Enviromesh which was held down tight along the outside with bricks.
But just in case something did get into the beds somehow, after returning home from the Malvern Show last year, I cleaned the whole bed up, rotavated it and gave it a strong dose of Jeyes Fluid. The purpose of this was to try and clean up any pathogens that might cause disease and still be lurking among the sand. I covered the bed over completely with black and white polythene, black side up to gain some warmth.
During the next dry day I shall remove the polythene and pass the rotavator over the bed once again to let the air and the weather get to it. I shall also sow some radish and mustard seed to make sure that there are no dangerous toxins left in the sand. My plan is to bore the holes, fill them with the compost and sow them on April 5 or 6, which will give ‘Sweet Candle’ around 22 weeks to develop a nice rounded stump end.
I was discussing with another grower how hard it is to empty the long carrot, parsnips and beetroot drums when you get older. This grower said he hardly ever now empties them out. So I’ve followed his lead and what I now do is empty out about 38cm (15in) of the top layer of sand and replace it with fresh stuff. I’ve noticed that, in my case, any marks occurring on the tap root usually happen in the top 30cm (12in) or so and since I’ve been doing this I haven’t had any marks, with parsnips in particular being clean skinned.
Why not follow me on Twitter throughout the season as I grow vegetables for my display at the Malvern Show – just look up @medwynsofangles.