While I was visiting my mom in Southern California during Mother's Day weekend, I sowed some carrot seeds in her side yard. So I can take credit for starting them, but not much else. Fast forward three months, and I'm back in CA this weekend with a chance to check on *my* vegetables again. And holy carrot, this is one girthy carrot!
These seeds came from the exact same envelope of Burpee's Short 'n Sweet carrots that I sowed in my Indiana garden. My first Indiana carrots made their debut two weeks ago, with carrots the size of matchsticks. I don't know why these carrots are growing so well in California, but not in Indiana. Maybe they like the unusually cool CA summer this year (with highs around 70s so far this summer), compared to the hot 90+ F summer we've been having in Indiana?
23 comments:
Wow, that is indeed a very girthy carrot.:) One year, many years ago, I had ginormous girthy carrots like that...all of them. I never did figure out why and have never had huge carrots like that since. Very interesting.
Mr. H., with all the variations between different gardens, I'm starting to realize that it's really difficult to nail down the exact reasons for the success or failure of a vegetable in different gardens. These carrots, for example, I could attribute it to weather differences between CA and IN. But there's also the soil difference, water difference, difference in other plants in the vicinity, etc... I guess I'll never really know.
Dang, that's a bigun! A few like that would go a long way...
Engineeredgarden - I'm actually a bit at a loss as to what to do with this monster carrot. Carrots don't normally feature prominently in my cooking, so if I can ever duplicate this size in Indiana, I'll have to learn to incorporate them into more recipes.
That's one mother of a carrot - well done! And they say size doesn't matter... Over here, that carrot would end up in a casserole, but I guess you don't want to be eating casseroles in the heat you're 'suffering' at the moment. If you could just see your way to sending some of that heat this way, it would be most appreciated!
Wow, that's the girthiest carrot that I've ever seen! How much did it weigh??
Wow! It's huge! What are you going to do with it?
Well, I think it is probably something more than just the weather differential because we in the pacific northwest have had the very cool summer as well, as I am just now getting baby to medium sized carrots to harvest this year. Nothing in the mega carrot genre. I think California is just a magical place that grows abundant vegetables!
Bub - I have discovered that the whole "size doesn't matter" thing goes out the window when it comes to growing your own vegetables. Large vegetables never seem to amaze me! They do say that smaller ones taste better, especially when it comes to things like squash, cucumbers, lettuce, etc. I haven't tasted this carrot yet, so I can't vouch for the taste. I have tasted its slighly smaller sibling (just sliced and ate it raw), and it was very sweet and carroty-good. Yeah, turning on the oven and making a casserole doesn't particularly sound appealing in this heat - you're more than welcome to a few degrees of this heat if you can find a way to steal it away!
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Robin - this carrot weighed 13 oz all trimmed.
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GrafixMuse - I don't have any plans for it yet! And I leave today, so my mom may get stuck with finding a way to cook it. I suppose there's always the option of eating it raw in a salad or as carrot sticks.
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kitsapFG - you might be right about California being a magical place for growing vegetables. Everything just seems to grow well in my mom's garden, even though I'm *positive* she doesn't spend as much time and energy fussing over it as I do about my garden in Indiana. Maybe I'm smothering my vegetables to their death, or at least to their stunted growth.
Ha! I have had many carrots much like your matchstix! I wish I could figure out how to grow a decent carrot too! Maybe I am just too impatient but they seem to take FOREVER! That one is pretty cool though!
Very Impressive! We do ours in a raised bed...but never had one come out like that!
Holy carrot is right! This is enormous!
from what i hear, California is pretty magical in all regards.
That carrot is pretty amazing! I grew some pretty funky ones (posted abt it a few weeks ago). Nothing near this gigantic and beautiful!
That must be the biggest home grown carrot I have ever seen. I hope that it tasted as good as it looks.
I have to say that some parts of my carrot garden row are growing big carrots and some are growing small. So it can be big difference in the same garden.
Shawn Ann - I can't say that I "figured out" how to grew this carrot, other than taking credit for sowing the seeds. I would ask my mom for her secret abilities, but I don't think she has any in the garden - she still waters from the top with a garden hose!
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Apple Pie Gal - I wonder if that does make a difference. My wimpy Indiana carrots are in a raised bed, and these CA carrots are in the ground.
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Frugal Gardener - That's what I thought!
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Wendy - I don't know about *all* regards, but I guess CA does have its positives. :-) I have seen some pictures of funky carrots from others' blogs, but everything out of this CA garden has so far come out fat and straight.
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vrtlarica - now I really feel validated, to have some of you long time gardeners agree that this is a big carrot. Being a new gardener, I thought maybe I was somewhat naive in thinking that this was a big carrot (comparing it only to the store-bought ones I've seen), but I guess it really is a big one! With all these differences even within the same garden, I just find gardening fascinating!
Now, there's girth, and there's girth, and that carrot has some girth about it.
Whilst I do have a thing for unusual vegetables, there is something predatory about that carrot. I bet it has eaten all of the others. You sowed a hundred seeds, but only found one carrot!
That's an impressive carrot. I think it's the minerals in the soil - the same reason CA tap water tastes like crap.
That is a fantastic carrot! Gigantic! I wonder if it tastes the same as the little ones?
With the BER tomatoes, you can cut off the rot parts and use the rest of the tomato. It is frustrating though, sometimes I just throw the whole thing in the compost!
The Idiot Gardener - that is a brilliant hypothesis you got there about the predatory carrot eating all the others to get so big. I hate to disprove your theory, but there are still other carrots in this part of the garden, so there must be another reason. I'm starting to think maybe it received an alien injection of supergrowth hormones.
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foodgardenkitchen - you might be right about the minerals in the soil and the crappy tasting water. Now that you mention it, it's been a long time since I tasted tap water in CA, as my mom has a filter installed in the sink for drinking water.
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meemsnyc - thanks! Really sorry about your BER tomatoes, I can imagine the pain of having to toss diseased vegetables in the compost, after putting so much effort into growing them.
Oh, Southern Ca. Yes, our cool summer probably is like everywhere else's spring.
Stefaneener - I do definitely miss the cool summers in CA, especially when it gets well over 90 degrees everywhere else, and over 100 degrees in wonderful places like Texas!
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