Bonnie, it looks like you did good!

I don't think that extra large carrots are likely to be inedible. Perhaps, they may have a heavy core. Only one way to find out . . .

I have so much trouble with carrots and, what has to be, root-knot nematodes. About 1 out of 4 isn't split or forked into uselessness. Recently, I've learned that these critters live on lots more than just carrots. They even live on weeds, bushes, and trees. That means that simple rotation isn't going to work for me.

Parsnips? I've made a little mistake in growing this year's parsnips where there's a good deal of shade. They'll be harvested in a few days and we'll see how they turn out.

I can almost smell the "carrot goodness" from that photograph.

Steve

I'm leaving my carrots in the ground through the fall, just harvesting what I need. I was out of town for a week and my BH and daughter were going through home cooked meal withdrawl, so yesterday morning I crock potted a pork roast and went out and dug up some potatoes and carrots to throw in. Some of the carrots were huge! I grew Danvers half longs this year and am very impressed with them. I sliced them up and threw them in anyway and they were great. I wouldn't worry about not using the huge ones. If they will be thoroughly cooked they will be fine. Thanks for the tip on not leaving them in the ground till spring. Congratulations on your harvest!

I still have ALOT of carrots in the ground. I was figuring that as long as the ground doesn't freeze, which is usually around Christmas, they'll be fine in the ground.

I grew the yellow carrots one year and decided they weren't worth the space. Haven't tried the purple ones. I have found covering them with leaves and straw works however, the mice like to hide in there and eat them from the top down. So a good way to store them is in a picnic cooler in the garage and they will keep months that way. When the frig starts to empty out then I bring some in and put in the veggie bins.

Well, I ended up with 2 gallons and 1 pint bag full of sliced carrots. That should make quite a few pots of soup! Plus, they are already sliced, so that cuts down on prep time.

There are a handful of carrots still in the garden that were planted in June, but all of the ones I harvested were sown in April. What's amazing to me is that all of those carrots were only taking up about 4 square feet of garden space.

Thanks Margeret for the cooler idea!

Bonnie

Are we talking about carrot storage now?!

I wait until just before the ground has frozen and then pull all my remaining parsnips and carrots from the garden. Then these go in a hole not to far from my backdoor.

The hole is nice and deep and they are packed in there upright, covered with the loose soil, and then covered by a deep layer of leaves (not the kind of leaves that pack down, however).

I wait late in the year in hopes that the mice have already migrated out of the cold outdoors and into the neighbor's house. That way, my carrots and parsnips (celery root, too) can stay un-mouse-tampered-with until I dig them out for the kitchen. Sometimes, the snow can be a bit of a problem but the veggies always are nice, crisp, and unfrozen.

Steve

They must be the shortest parsnips I've ever grown but - - I got real good germination out of a packet of seeds!!

Probably got good germination because there's no sun where they were planted for nearly the entire afternoon.

Probably didn't get big because there's no sun where they were planted for nearly the entire afternoon.

digitS'

digit, I was wondering if planting marigolds near your carrots would help. I'm just learning about companion planting, so I'm no expert. I decided to plant marigolds around my stone fruit trees next year.

Here is a link that might be useful: MEXICAN MARIGOLD

M.H.Girl, I think that this is actually where marigolds are of use - nematode protection.

There are other "nematode resistant" plants, also. It may make some real sense to explore this . . . I'll click on that link and see where it goes.

Notice that there's no knots on the hair roots of the parsnips; no forks. Not one split!

Usually I get only a few but they are huge. They weren't really crowded - I had to thin. Must have just been the sunlight.

Steve

That marigold, MHGirl, discourages nematodes and kills bindweed! Can you imagine the value??

This is from Alabama Coop Ex Service but they give some more insight on nematodes suppression. And, they mention that Mexican marigold species.

They do say this, "All French dwarf cultivars are not equally effective in controlling a mixed population of several root-knot nematode species.. . A few marigolds scattered through a vegetable garden will not control plant parasitic nematodes. For effective nematode suppression with marigolds, solid seed the garden with a recommended cultivar from Table 2. Maintain the solid stand of marigolds for at least 2 months and then turn them under with a plow or rototiller as green manure."

I wonder what they are talking about with the value of rapeseed . . . ? Dwarf Essex is not an uncommon cover crop.

I drifted off looking at nematode resistant tomato varieties. The nastiness of these pests in the carrots where I can see the problems makes me wonder what damage they do to tomato roots. The fact that my favorite hybrids are nematode-resistant varieties may be explained by their ability to set good crops despite the nematodes.

Steve

Hmmmm ... maybe I need to switch to Mexican marigolds. I grow the little French marigolds in my vegetable garden every year, and they don't seem to slow the bindweed down one bit!

Bonnie