Who needs a stick when you can have carrots?
Sales of vegetable seeds have outstripped sales of flower seeds for the past couple of years, confirms my friend Les Day of Kings Seeds. It’s good news that so many more people are having a go at growing their own vegetables. Saving a bit of money is one of the bonuses, but the real joy comes in the pleasure of eating them straight from the plot. Freshly picked peas, courgettes, and beans are a world apart from anything bought in a shop. Home-grown vegetables have to be preferable to those from the supermarket which can have pesticide residues, preservative coating and the remains of whatever fluid has been used to wash them.
I asked my family what their favourite allotment vegetable is from the range I usually grow. I was expecting the answers to include asparagus and mangetout peas and was rather surprised when they homed in on the humble carrot.
Les Day and I agree that supermarket carrots and home grown ones are like chalk and cheese.
Even the loveliest looking supermarket carrots only last a few days in the fridge before developing strange black mould and mushy patches.
My allotment ones may need a scrub under the tap but for the most part that’s all the preparation they need. They are so versatile and add an alternative touch of colour to winter dishes when green vegetables are scarce. I think they’re quite sublime just boiled or steamed and served with a bit of butter. My childhood
Supermarket carrots and home grown ones are like chalk and cheese
favourite which I still enjoy is nothing more complicated than a bowl of raw grated carrot with a squeeze of lemon juice and a pinch of sugar.
There are dozens of varieties of carrot seeds to choose from. Exhibitors favour a variety called Sweet Candle.
If your soil is fairly light and stonefree any of the traditional cylindrical carrots will thrive. If your soil is compacted or stony, it’s probably better to choose one of the small spherical carrots such as Paris Market; these will even grow well in a pot or windowbox. Carrot fly maggots can wreck a promising crop. I protect the rows with a barrier of fine horticultural mesh.
Other growers plant them beyond the reach of carrot flies in raised beds. Carrots do best in soil which has not been manured otherwise the root can split into forks taking a bit more time to prepare in the kitchen. n