Two weeks to go to our Summer Show and I’ve been checking to see how the veg is looking particularly those that take pride of place on the show bench. So I’ve been feeling around the tops of my carrots to see if there’s anything decent under the surface. The first signs were promising…………….
until I felt a large notch in the top and realised it had a split down one side!
Then there were these forked ones. Carrots are not easy veg to grow, I thought the soil was poor enough to avoid this problem. In last years show the judge couldn’t even bring himself to award a first prize, I got second and nearly didn’t enter them as I thought they were hopeless.
The Long Carrot experiment doesn’t look good either. I had germination problems to start with, then in the hot dry weather some went to seed. In the dustbins I reckon I’ll have a couple of decent ones but most are still pretty thin. Well live and learn, see what they look like in a couple of weeks!
Don’t forget my free Land’s End Gift Voucher and Seed giveaway that I launched last week. All you have to do is leave a comment on the post, just click here. I’ll be drawing the gift voucher winners and despatching the seeds towards the end of the month.







13 comments
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August 7, 2010 at 5:30 pm
Flighty
Love the title! Oh dear, as you say carrots are not the easiest of show vegetables to grow even when the weather has been kind.
Our show is in four weeks time where I’ll be stewarding rather than exhibiting, unless I’m a late entrant in one or two classes!
August 7, 2010 at 7:08 pm
Damo
Thanks Flighty, they certainly are a challenge. Hope your show goes well and you manage to get into a couple of classes.
August 7, 2010 at 5:40 pm
Sue
But they’ll taste good so all is not lost!
August 7, 2010 at 7:08 pm
Damo
They certainly will Sue, to be honest any carrot I’ve picked from the garden tastes much better than shop bought no matter what the size or shape!
August 7, 2010 at 5:49 pm
Ian
The carrott has mystery, my friend. Very good post, shame about the split. What’s causes that to happen, too much water?
August 7, 2010 at 7:11 pm
Damo
They do indeed Ian, the split is either the nitrogen/potash ratio being too high or a shortage of water. With the summer we’ve had I’m guessing the latter.
August 8, 2010 at 6:05 pm
meemsnyc
That is quite a long carrot! Sorry it was split! We had a hard time growing carrots. Only got little fat stubs. Sigh.
August 8, 2010 at 7:51 pm
Damo
Hi, they are the veg I’ve had most trouble with and don’t seem worth the effort. That said I expect I’ll try again next year! One day!
August 10, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Janice
I’m rubbish with carrots. I tried some in pots this year – still a disaster. I reckon it’s something to do with my aversion to digging. Think I might try mini-varieties to see if they’ll do any better.
August 10, 2010 at 4:43 pm
Damo
Hi Janice, I think that’s the way to go, the smaller varieties might be easier.
August 15, 2010 at 7:31 pm
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