I bought some Purple Haze carrot seeds from IFA last year and they are the best!! My grandson likes them hands down over the orange ones. They held their color in the crock pot when I made beef stew. I bought about 6 packets this year and plan on planting most of my carrots in purple haze, and a row of one of the orange varieties.

this is the last year I am going to try carrots. I can never get them to get very big around. Any advice?
I joined this forum last summer, but I havn't received any catalog. How did you get yours?

I get seed catalogs from seed companies. I just request a catalog on the website. Here is a list of ones that I like

http://www.vegenag.com/2009/03/seed-catalogs/

As for the carrots there are a few considerations. First, you need to have deep dug soil. If carrots have a hard time getting big, it is usually because the soil is too hard and not loose. Make sure to amend the soil with plenty of compost and such to help with this problem.

Second, don't over water. You should water carrots about twice a week with about 1 inch of water. For me that takes about 1 hour and a half using drip irrigation with 2 gallon per hour emitters.

Last, make sure to apply a side dressing of nitrogen about 6 weeks after the seeds are up. This will help to get the roots bigger. The rate of fertilizer is about 1 cup per 10 foot row. I use ammonium sulfate 20-0-0.

For a full skinny on carrots from Utah State university go to

http://www.vegenag.com/vegetable-fact-sheets-for-utah/

and click on carrots.