Carrots are probably the first vegetable I get asked about when I mention I have an allotment. Aside from the humble spud they are without doubt the 2nd most popular vegetable in Ireland. I would be surprised to hear of any veggie grower who doesn't at least grow a small amount of carrots just for that unbelievably fresh smell when they are harvested.
Last year I got a pretty good return from the carrots, some people seem to have a lot of trouble with theirs but ours were pretty straightforward. This year I want to get them even bigger and better than last year.
Historically to sow carrots you would sow them as thinly as possible for thinning out at a later date. However one of the chief drawbacks to this method is an increased risk of attracting the dreaded carrot fly who just loves the scent of the thinning's. To avoid this we use the same method as we use for sowing our parsnips. That is to use the dibber to make a conical shaped hole approx 6 inches deep. We then fill this hole with compost. You are often told that manure and fresh compost in the carrot bed will cause forking but to be honest I used this method last year and did not notice any forked carrots so I will try it again this year. If it ain't broken don't fix it!!!
By using the dibber there is no need at all for thinning, just make the holes approx 2-3 inches apart and make your rows approx 18 inches apart. An additional benefit to this method is you do not waste as much seed. Carrot thinning's cannot be transplanted so they are either eaten as mini veg or composted. The only drawback that I find is that it is very time consuming at the initial stage but I think it balances out as there is no further work required apart from keeping the weeds at bay.
We are sowing a few different varieties this year, 'Autumn King 2' and 'Chantenay Red Chored 2'. We are sowing 76 of 'Autumn King 2' and 76 of 'Chantenay Red Chored 2', too many?
To avoid having a glut of carrots available all at the same time we are staggering our sowing times, first sowing in April, second in May and another in Early June. This will stretch out the cropping period and make storage a little easier later in the year.
We also use Enviromesh (a fine and hard wearing netting) which ensures that the carrot fly cannot get near the carrots at all but sunlight and water can. The carrot fly lay their eggs at ground level, the offspring then burrow below ground and start feeding on the carrots. The mesh is very expensive, a roll of 5m x 2.6m is €31.99 but having said that it should last for many years so worth the investment in my opinion.
Last year I got a pretty good return from the carrots, some people seem to have a lot of trouble with theirs but ours were pretty straightforward. This year I want to get them even bigger and better than last year.
Historically to sow carrots you would sow them as thinly as possible for thinning out at a later date. However one of the chief drawbacks to this method is an increased risk of attracting the dreaded carrot fly who just loves the scent of the thinning's. To avoid this we use the same method as we use for sowing our parsnips. That is to use the dibber to make a conical shaped hole approx 6 inches deep. We then fill this hole with compost. You are often told that manure and fresh compost in the carrot bed will cause forking but to be honest I used this method last year and did not notice any forked carrots so I will try it again this year. If it ain't broken don't fix it!!!
By using the dibber there is no need at all for thinning, just make the holes approx 2-3 inches apart and make your rows approx 18 inches apart. An additional benefit to this method is you do not waste as much seed. Carrot thinning's cannot be transplanted so they are either eaten as mini veg or composted. The only drawback that I find is that it is very time consuming at the initial stage but I think it balances out as there is no further work required apart from keeping the weeds at bay.
We are sowing a few different varieties this year, 'Autumn King 2' and 'Chantenay Red Chored 2'. We are sowing 76 of 'Autumn King 2' and 76 of 'Chantenay Red Chored 2', too many?
To avoid having a glut of carrots available all at the same time we are staggering our sowing times, first sowing in April, second in May and another in Early June. This will stretch out the cropping period and make storage a little easier later in the year.
We also use Enviromesh (a fine and hard wearing netting) which ensures that the carrot fly cannot get near the carrots at all but sunlight and water can. The carrot fly lay their eggs at ground level, the offspring then burrow below ground and start feeding on the carrots. The mesh is very expensive, a roll of 5m x 2.6m is €31.99 but having said that it should last for many years so worth the investment in my opinion.
