Growing Carrots For Beginners

Do you like carrots? I sure do! Today I am sharing my tips and tricks for planting and raising carrots. You'll be thrilled when you sink your teeth into a crunchy sweet carrot that you've grown! Let's get started.

Step 1 -

Prepare your soil. Carrots like loose soil. If you have slightly sandy soil, you're in luck. If not, don't sweat it! My soil tends to have a lot of clay and can easily become compacted. This is the enemy of the carrot. Carrots are tap roots that like to have plenty of space to expand into the soil. I know there's a lot of controversy in the gardening community about till vs. no-till methods, but I personally till my carrot bed. I want that soil nice and fluffy for the little seedlings. If you don't have a rototiller, you could broadfork your area or add a nice layer of topsoil if choosing to do no-till.

Step 2 -

Sow your seeds. When I was a beginner gardener, I made the mistake of planting my carrots one seed at a time in a single row. I have to laugh! Now I sow 2 x 12 - foot rows with carrots and thin them out as needed. It saves a lot of time and space! Remember to have patience. It can take up to 3 weeks for your seeds to sprout. When they do sprout, they will be tiny and easy to mistake for weeds. I typically don't weed my carrots until they get their secondary leaves and are more easily identified.

Step 3 -

Thin your carrots. This is one of the hardest tasks a gardener must ever do. It feels like you're snuffing out the little sprout that you've just worked so hard to grow. In a sense that's true, but if you want nice carrots, it must be done. You don't want carrots that are all gnarled and grown together in weird shapes. Plus, you want to make sure that the carrots aren't competing for nutrients so they are full and healthy. I the past, I did not thin my carrots and ended up with an underwhelming harvest. I had much more success when I finally did the hard thing and thinned the carrot sprouts.

Step 4 -

Invest in a broadfork! This is the number one tip that has helped me grow carrots successfully. When I first grew carrots, they would only reach about 3 or 4 inches in length. Then I learned about broadforking. A broadfork is similar to a pitchfork with slightly wider tines. I have an old-fashioned one from my grandmother, but they have really nice modern broadforks for sale online or at local farm supply stores. Three times during the growing season I take my broadfork and work the ground in between my carrots. This causes the soil to loosen and allows the carrots to expand downward giving them nice long and thick roots.

Step 5 -

Harvest time. Carrots will have different maturity times based on variety. Typically, your seed pack will tell you how many days until maturity. If you're like me and throw away or misplace the seed packet here's a tip: when carrots are about 1 inch diameter pull a few and see if they are a size you like. If not, let the rest keep growing. Keep in mind, if carrots get too big the centers can become woody and are unpleasant to eat.

When your carrots are ready, use your broadfork to loosen the soil all around your carrots. Then gently pull the carrots out of the ground. Rinse them and cut the tops off. (As a side note, the tops can actually be saved and eaten. Some people like to make carrot top pesto). Store in your refrigerator or cold cellar and enjoy!

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I hope this post gives you the confidence to grow carrots. They are an amazing and easy crop to grow. You can do it!

Happy gardening,

Abby