My attempt at a carrot bouquet
These are all "Short 'n Sweet" variety. I'm thinking this one is more like "Long 'n Scary"
Or is this the scary one?
All these carrots came from this part of the garden (you can see the green carrot tops in the middle, before the harvest), which, as you can see, is fairly weedy and a bit disorganized by my standards. Apparently these carrots like it better that way, compared to the pristine controlled environment of my square foot gardening beds in Indiana.
Here is the final carrot harvest after they've been bathed and groomed. This harvest weighed 3 lbs, with the largest one weighing 13 oz. I wondered if such large carrots may be compromised in flavor and/or texture, but these were still very juicy and sweet with no woody center core like some big carrots from the grocery store. Curious, but, hey, I'll take it! I grated the first few big ones to make some impromptu whole wheat carrot bread, in an attempt to avoid the sweet/rich pitfall of carrot cake.
Hop on over to Daphne's Harvest Monday for more fall harvests!
This post is also linked to Tuesday Garden Party.
25 comments:
I am so impressed by the size of those carrots! Absolutely amazing! That must be magic soil!
That is one good harvest! Our carrot never reached that size.
Those carrots are huge! The carrot bread looks yummy.
That carrot is a monster! Run for your lives!!!
LOL! I always get freak carrots too, if I get any!
Love those carrots! Even the scary ones get eaten at our house.
Your mom does not happen to live somewhere near a nuclear plant does she?! LOL! Those are mutant size carrots! She must have very good soil.
I was going to do a joke about the carrots, but to be honest, they are just way too impressive to mock!
Wow those are huge carrots. I've never gotten mine to grow that big, even the larger varieties. Your certainly aren't short as the name implies.
meemsnyc - you might be right about the magic soil!
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Malay-Kadazan girl - thank you! These CA carrots definitely put my IN carrots to shame.
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Robin - thank you! The carrot bread wasn't as sweet/rich as carrot cake, but it certainly was much healthier.
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Ribbit - I was embracing these monster carrots!
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Erin - I kind of like the freak carrots! I think the freaks have something to do with soil deficiencies and/or stones. But since there were so many other "good" carrots here, maybe it was just an isolated location.
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kitsapFG - None that I can see around the house! Her soil is very sandy, I'm thinking that must be really got for carrots.
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TIG - no jokes from you, wow, you must really be impressed!
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Daphne - Short these are not!
WOW! She must be secretly miracle growing those carrots or something! Ha! Wow! Do they even taste good when they get that big? Or are they destined for baked goods?
Shawn Ann - surprisingly enough, these carrots were still very good with no toughness. I grated a bunch to use for baking, but the rest have been wonderful for topping salads, sandwiches, and even just raw. We're thinking about making some shredded carrot salad, like coleslaw. My mom also ate a whole one, and she said it was sweet like someone added sugar to it.
Now those are some big carrots! I'm wondering what your mom did to that soil. She must live in the perfect carrot growing area.
-Mary
Anatomically correct carrots. Gotta love it!
Really, those are some big carrots. Mine always split before they can get that large. I have never grown a 13 ouncer! Your Mom has a way to go to beat the world record of 18.985 pounds though ;-)
No wonder CA grows most of the country's vegetables - things apparently just grow there better...
I remember when I lived in So. CA and in the desert, they grow broccoli for most of the year. I never really thought about it back then but now that I'm growing my own veggies, I have no idea how they grew broccoli in the desert for a large part of the year - it must be some hybrid variety that does better in heat because for the life of me, I can barely get broccoli to grow in NC in the Spring and Fall. It can't possible be the grower ;)
Yes, those are California carrots. I get carrots like this often. Actually, in any one batch the huge ones tend to be sweeter and more flavorful than the regular size ones.
Your bread looks so yummy!
Very impressive, what a nice harvest and that carrot cake look yummie. It made me so hungry...I'm off down to the kitchen :-)
Tyra in the greenhouse
Mary - she doesn't really do anything to the soil! But she mentioned that it seems like she's losing soil, so I just bought some bags of manure compost to top it off this weekend. I hope I didn't screw up her magical soil. :)
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Granny - that's what I thought. 18+ lb carrot, wow.
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foodgardenkitchen - I never appreciated or thought much about how nice CA weather is for vegetable gardening when I lived here. Now that I sort of live in Indiana, I miss it!
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Angela - ah ha, so it must be the weather, then. I've done some research and read something about how carrot root development is the best (fastest) during temps of 59F - 64F. I think that was about the average temp here in coastal CA all summer long, hence these giant carrots!
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Tyra - thank you! Hope you whip up something delicious in your kitchen!
Ok, that settles it! I live in CA, so next year, I'm going to be growing carrots. Lots and lots of carrots. They will grow like freaks, and I will be making all manner of carrot things. Oh, I can't wait! I'll keep you posted.
~~Lori
What lovely carrots. Mine are still the size of pencils, so it isn't just California. Your Mom must have a green thumb.
Some of those carrots are huge! and just so you know, I will not allow my husband to see your blog, or he'll be wanting carrot cake. ;)
Dirt Lover - please do and let me know how it works out! Freakishly large CA carrots for everyone! :-)
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Lou Murray - hmm, if that's true, then maybe I should give her more credit.
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Diana - maybe he can have some carrot bread instead. :)
Amazing! Those carrots are so HUGE… And that carrot cake looks so moist and yummy… Thanks for sharing!
Marsha - thank you! The carrot bread was super moist, as I included lots of shredded carrots and some nonfat yogurt.
All I can say is WOW. Mine always split, too, before they get that big. I'm going to try that variety next year. :-)
Thanks for sharing with the Garden Party. For fall and winter, you can link up seasonal recipes, garden themed gifts, decorating and such. I'm going to have a list of Winter link-up themes tomorrow at the Tuesday Garden Party, so check in and plan your posts!
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