Radishes peeking above the soil line. No pictures of carrots sprouting yet.
Carrots are not so easy to grow. At least, this has been my impression. Other people seem to disagree, and I look with incredulity upon their huge bunches of perfect, slender, orange roots.
I’ve done a lot of reading about carrots lately, preparing to plant this year’s seed, my optimistic heart running against the grain of experience once again.
“Parmex” is my seed of choice this year, because I have a feeling that F. and I would need to amend the soil for several years in succession to get those classical, long, straight carrots. The soil we started with here, although rich where it was practically undisturbed beneath the forest canopy, is mostly clay, and carrots tend to come out of heavy clay looking like unfriendly tumors or, worse, some kind of mutant species intent upon world domination. (I believe the technical term is “misshapen.”)
You can still eat these carrots. But they are a pain to peel or grate, and frankly the shapes are unappealing to the appetite.
The baby ball-type carrots, such as Parmex, apparently do well in any soil — or at least, that is what the seed sellers say, and I’m hoping it’s no lie. Still, I’m crossing my fingers.
So when I called up my grandfather yesterday, I was planning to sneak some carrot questions into our conversation. His farm had heavy clay soil as a base, although it had been well amended over the years by the output from eight chicken houses, several pigs, a couple of cows, the ashes from a wood stove, etc. The farm also had a huge, dedicated carrot patch — although I might have a distorted memory of its actual size due to my childhood propensity to daydreams, wandering, and distraction which, when combined, could make the chore of being sent to the carrot patch for dinner supplies last a long time.
Still, I remember it being very productive. Unfortunately, however, the gardening gene hadn’t yet blinked on back then, so I didn’t record many of the how-to details, being more interested in watching that hawk land in the trees beyond the field, or the tiny wildflower that had sprouted in the furrow. (Hmm… in some ways, not much has changed.)
Here is how our talk went.
ME: Granddaddy, I remember y’all used to have a big ol’ carrot patch.
GRANDDADDY: Yeah. Yeah, we did.
ME: And it used to make lots and lots of carrots.
GRANDDADDY: Not so many. You took some time pickin’ ‘em, though. (Slight chuckle.)
ME: (slightly grumpy now) Do you have any advice to give me on how to grow carrots? It’s only, I can’t get mine to grow right.
(Long silence. So long I wonder if the line has gone dead.)
GRANDDADDY: Well, you get you some carrot seed.
ME: Check.
GRANDDADDY: (very slowly, as if disarming a bomb) And then… you put them in the ground.
Ta-da!
When I hung up the phone, I started giggling. Granddaddy belongs to the figure-it-out-by-doing school of gardening. Sometimes I suspect he wonders about my intelligence; mostly he thinks I’ve read too much, thus rendering needlessly complicated what is actually basic and simple. For him growing vegetables is just natural: that’s what the earth does, if you put the seeds in the ground.
When I was in my mid-20s, I figured out that this is 90% of the secret to what is commonly called a green thumb: expect miracles. Expect the stuff to grow and do well. Expect tasty results. A lot of this expectation comes from experience, from years of decent results in spite of silly mistakes, from patience when things don’t happen on schedule, from acceptance when it’s not quite right, from that inevitable failure — and from trying again and getting it right. Over time, one gets the feeling that plants do their thing beautifully without needing so very much from us, on the whole.
Not to say that Granddaddy hasn’t had his share of disappointments, whether it be at the hand of Nature or of Man. But he continues to expect good from whatever he plants.
(Apologies to those of you who were expecting an actual how-to article. They’re not really my style. But here is a link to a pretty good one from our nearby university, with lots of detail, just in case that’s what you were needing when you came by. If you live in a different area of the world, I suggest you check with your local university or extension service for growing instructions appropriate to the conditions of your bioregion.)
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I sometimes think our memories are of bigger and better things than they actually were:) I remember the first time I revisited my childhood home as an adult–I remembered a huge yard where I would swing and daydream, not the actual postage-stamp lawn that was there. Anyway, when you find out the secrets to growing beautiful carrots, I hope you’ll post them. I left mine in the ground too long last year and had quite a few monster carrots!
You have a photo of radishes here–do you plant radishes in the same row? If you don’t, that’s a good way to mark the row until the carrots germinate.
Rose´s last blog ..Time Flies….and a Seed Giveaway
Oh, definitely, Rose; I know my childhood memories are precious because they are intensified by what was within me — before the realities of adult life started their shakedown.
I think one year my mistake was overfertilization, and I think that heavy clay soil with small rocks and roots in it is not ideal. I had heard of that trick to mark the rows, and will definitely try it.
I love the conversation with your granddaddy – I called my granddaddy Garlington that, too. And used to walk his vegetable garden with him. He used to grow these little pear tomatoes and we would just eat them while we were walking.
Tami from Running with Tweezers blog has a carrot soup recipe today. I just read it and then came to your blog and it has turned into a carrot theme afternoon: http://www.runningwithtweezers.com/runningwithtweezers/2010/03/carrot-soup.html
A lady from church shared some of her homemade carrot soup with me – it had garam masala in it. Yum.
Lynn´s last blog ..Lured, not at all and treasures
Yum, Lynn. I’ll have to try that recipe. My favorite carrot concoction is Carrot Cake. I have an old Southern Living Recipe (like 30 years old) given to me by my first boss out of college, a classy Southern woman who knew how to cook and entertain flawlessly, all while holding down a full-time job. She brought in her silver tea service for us at Christmas time and served forth a variety of tasty dishes for the whole staff. Every time I make her carrot cake (for of course she’d tweaked it), I think fondly of her.
Meredith, I grew carrots last year, but they turned out to be midget mutant type of carrots that weren’t even that tasty. Not sure what happened!
kimberly´s last blog ..What a Stinker!
Oh, dear, Kimberly. I’m afraid I can empathize with your disappointment only too well!
Boy! That conversation could just as easily have been between me and either of my granddaddies. Haha! I thoroughly enjoyed the humor.
I guess I should post a carrot how-to since we’re in the same area & zone. Maybe I’ll get that done this week. I’m wishing I’d taken more photos of my carrots, now. I can probably find some though.
YOUR photos are lovely.
Eliza´s last blog ..How to Start a Raised Bed Garden Without Buying Anything (Photo Essay)
So glad you liked the humor, Eliza. Conversations with grandparents can reveal a huge gardener-generational gap sometimes.
Please do post that how-to. I think it’s not quite time to plant yet, and I have a small bed reserved for them, with nothing done to it yet. (Well, other than laying mulch on top in winter and compost in early spring.) I’d be glad to have the good, *detailed* advice.
Meredith, I loved this; your grandfather sounds like a real character, and I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. Have you read Michael Pollan’s account (in Second Nature) of trying to think like a carrot? I think it’s a slightly more intellectual version that goes the next step beyond “You buy seeds and then you put them in the ground.” (Pollan had the same problem with misshapen carrots that you had.)
Jean´s last blog ..Favorite Garden Books: Beautiful Madness
LOL, Jean, he *is* a character. An original for sure!
I have not read Second Nature yet, but it’s on my list because I so loved The Ominovore’s Dilemma. Actually, The Botany of Desire was first on that list. I’m fascinated by the mere idea of an account of our co-evolution with plants. But now that you tell me he had misshapen carrots, I’m inclined to read Second Nature first.
That man has written too many interesting books!
I really couldn’t help but chuckle, that sounds like the same sage advice imparted by my own grandfather! I’ve had carrot hoorahs, and magnificent carrot flops. Fertile soil, but not too rich, free-draining, not too clay…not too anything really…a bit like Goldilocks as near as I can tell, everything has to be ‘just right’. You MUST thin carrots…they’re a rather unfriendly bunch, and don’t like to have their personal space invaded by pushy neighbors. Definitely a veggie for the raised garden bed if you have one, and if at first your carrots flop…try a different variety. That really can make all the difference. Most importantly, don’t over-fertilize…if you fertilize at all…unless you have a rabbit farm, and just want lush green tops
Good luck!
Curbstone Valley Farm´s last blog ..Anemone oregana
CV, you go ahead and chuckle. It’s a conversation made for laughs.
“A bit like Goldilocks” is a wonderful way to describe it, and thanks for the heads up about thinning. (I’m having to enforce self-discipline on the thinning of radishes and spinach lately.) And no rabbit farm yet so I’ll keep the fertilization caution in mind. Although F. does love rabbits enough to want to raise them someday — but the problem will be that they are so cuddly and cute I wouldn’t want to kill them ever!
I love it! I recently had a thunderbolt-type revelation that this story captured perfectly. I’ve proudly said for years (I’ve been gardening 9 years), “I come from a long line of gardeners – my great-grandmother, grandfather, mom, and me.” But as I think about it, though they taught me to love gardening, they never taught me anything really concrete about _how_ to garden! That’s the family tradition…figuring out by doing. A very useful life skill, that.
Holly´s last blog ..Victory, Shmictory…Bring on the Crisis Garden!
Isn’t that funny? On both sides of my extended family there were avid, passionate gardeners who didn’t give a lot of how-tos, if at all. And I could think of much worse family traditions than ones that inspire curiosity, creativity, and self-reliance.
(Now, the difference for me is that when I started to catch the gardening bug, or when my green gene switched on, whatever we’re calling it, around age 19, I started walking in the fields very attentively with Granddaddy, paying attention to every move, and asking a LOT of questions. Luckily, I am not really daunted by uncooperative interview subjects. I was working for the campus newspaper at the time and even carried a notebook with me many times, or turned on my wee tape recorder.
)
My Mom always says every garden is as individual as we are and now that I think about it, she never told me anything specific about gardening either – lol! But the love of all things green runs deep.
I now have a strong desire for some carrot cake (cuz my sweet tooth has been ignored today – lol) though I wouldn’t say no to a bowl of that soup Lynn described – sounds heavenly!
Talon´s last blog ..Breathe…
LOL, Talon. Maybe gardeners learn a lot by osmosis? Or maybe our passion carries us far enough to figure most everything out anew each generation? Seems to be a pattern here in the comments…
Yay, carrot cake! I think I might post Faye’s old recipe sometime, maybe when the carrot harvest is coming in.
Dear Meredith, I do think, as you suggest here, that in the past people worried far less about the whys and whynots of everything, particularly gardening, and just got on with it and, I believe, as in the case of your grandfather, produced excellent results.
The only thing which sticks in my mind about growing carrots is that they prefer a light, sandy soil. This may, of course, be totally wrong and therefore completely misleading.
Edith Hope´s last blog ..Miss Otis Regrets She’s Unable To Lunch Today….
You’re completely right, Edith, about the light, sandy soil. At least, that is what I’ve been coming across in my reading. For people with clay soil (moi) even amending with sand is a bad idea, as it tends to form a mortar-like mess when wet. A Southerner I know grows his carrots in a huge, deep raised bed — and I mean deep, like as high as my waist — of mostly sand, some compost, and a wee bit of potting soil. When F. and I get to more permanent digs, I may try that.
Thanks for inviting me over! Love the carrot post, what a great story. You’re just like your grandad in not being a how-to person, that’s what great about your blog. Gardenings about all of life and the real people who do it.
Ian, I take that as a very high compliment, that I’m just like my granddad.
Thank you for visiting!
I like your Granddaddy. That’s the kind of advice I respect. I think that if my Dad was still alive, he’d give me that kind of advice too. Mind you, he’d probably also come around, take over my garden, and before long I’d out there in chains, toiling in the sun, while he sat in a deck chair with a beer, telling me to work harder.
The Idiot Gardener´s last blog ..Faded, jaded and shrugging off death
LOL, IG. You crack me up. Thank goodness your Dad is not around to give you *helpful* advice and slap on the chains.
This was darling. I’ve never had too much success with carrots, but I keep trying. I’m growing a round variety this year and thinning religiously. We’ll see what happens.~~Dee
Dee, I’m going to be joining you with exactly the same method: round carrots, disciplined thinning. We shall see how it goes.
Meredith, what a thoroughly enjoyable read! Gardening, as life, does indeed involve all that patience and silliness and expectation of miracles, sometimes all within 5 minutes.
To drop from the sublime to the pragmatic, the way we handle planting carrots here in clay soil (except for those lucky few who scored the sandy loam) is to make raised beds using soil with a lot of compost and sand in it – basically, providing foreign soil the carrots will grow easily in. Those who are energetic (or have energetic friends they can press into service) double-dig their beds, but double-digging clay and decomposed (and often composed) granite is quite an undertaking. Raised beds are easier, about the height of the carrots you want to grow, plus a little more.
Pomona Belvedere´s last blog ..Sex Among the Daffodils: or, Good Breeding
I don’t think we’ll be double-digging anytime soon (yikes!), but I can see creating a high raised bed at our next home. Thanks for the advice and compliments, Pomona!
Meredith, I just planted my second variety (Purple dragon) of carrot yesterday. The first (Nantes) are just now beginning to show. We have them in a raised bed and like those who have already suggested, they seem to like a fairly loose and composted soil. Since they are a little slow to germinate, I will generally soak them overnight; drain and lay them on a paper napkin to absorb the excess. I then make a seed mat (using a cheap paper napkin) spacing them an inch apart: put down a drop of glue (slightly thick flour and water mixture) with a plastic tooth pick, then pick up a seed with the same toothpick and lay it on own spot; it works really well. Allow to dry and plant the entire mat on the soil and with only the slightest amount of soil sprinkled on top. The carrots need to stay moist (not wet) while germinating, so I lay a piece of clear plastic over them until they begin to poke their little heads. And there’s no thinning necessary. Hope this helps. I think I’ll write a blog on this.
)
Diana´s last blog ..Spring Blossoms and Wild Turkeys
Diana, I so want to grow purple carrots, and red and yellow ones, too. How fun is that? I love your homemade seed mat instructions for no-thinning-necessary carrot plantings. Fantastic!
(And I think a blog post would be brilliant.)
My dad is a research scientist for hte USDA at a lab in oklahoma and was charged with trying to grow carrots in oklahoma soil. He said it couldn’t be done. They said do it anyway.
Like 20 years later he’s still pissed off at carrots…lol. Because YEAH…they were very hard for him to grow and they ended up abandoning the project due to lack of positive results.
So don’t feel bad about not being able to grow carrots.
brandi´s last blog ..thoughts on fostering
LOL, I feel a million times better, Brandi.
If the USDA labs can’t do it, well, I’ll just chalk it up to experience and get on with sowing my baby balls.
I love this post, and I love the figure it out school of gardening.
Unfortunately, I’ve never figured out carrots!
Mama Zen, it looks like you’re in good company. All of the carrot-based solidarity is comforting; isn’t it? And ultimately, I suspect we’re all in the figure-it-out school for gardening… and for life.
Oh can I adopt your granddaddy?? He sounds fabulous.
We are growing little carrot balls this year in the clay lotties, but we have had good carrot-y carrots in the soil there too! Takes a lot of working the soil and making it very crumbly and rich. Bt the best thing ever was when we found a massive blue tub on the beach and were able to fill it with light soil bought at the garden center. Success!
Carrie´s last blog ..Purple Sprouting Broccoli
Carrie, I’ll tell him you said that.
Massive blue tubs I don’t have… but I do have large containers. Hmm…
Our carrot harvests have been unpredictable – some good, some bad. Last year for the first time we spent extra money and bought carrot seed tapes. We had an extremely high germination rate with them, which is half the battle, though the carrots didn’t grow real large so I’m not sure if it was the variety, the drought, or the soil. We will definitely purchase the seed tapes again this year. A wonderful lighthearted post, and how lucky for you to have a gardener grandpa to rely on!
Cheryl´s last blog ..First signs and smells of Spring ~ I think
I’ve never tried the tapes, but Diana’s description of making her own seed mat piqued my interest. Those seeds are so teeny tiny! Worse than mustard, even.
I am blessed to have had Granddaddy in my life, ready to teach me by example and to answer my questions — even if I don’t always get the kind of answers I want.
What a sweet story! Your grandpa sounds like a keeper!
Glad you enjoyed it, Gloria. I hope he is with us for a long time yet. His 84th birthday (or possibly 85th, as country records weren’t so accurate and there are two versions available) is in June.
(Sometimes I suspect he wonders about my intelligence) —– I laughed out loud when I read that. lol A delightful post, Meredith!
I remember trying to grow carrots years ago and, yes, they were dreadfully mutated when I pulled them up. If only I had read that they like sandy soil so they don’t have to push too hard to break through it. I read that a couple of handfuls of sand in every square foot of soil is a good ratio. When I was a child, I remember the old chap who lived a few doors down from us grew beautifully shaped carrots in a bucket of very sandy soil.
Serena´s last blog ..Thai Temple Tour
Serena, I’m glad you laughed. I found the whole exchange hilarious, myself.
It’s like we’re on different planets sometimes, but with a shared passion to unite us across the generational gap.
I would add sand — except that it’s well known to compact the heavy clay soil around here and render it like mud for brickmaking. Instead we add compost, wood ash, and straw and leaves for mulch, and encourage the presence of earthworms to aerate the soil for us as much as possible.