Carrots are a cool-season crop grown in spring. This popular vegetable has a natural sweetness, especially when homegrown. Some gardeners find carrots tricky to grow; the secret is the soil! Learn our tips and tricks on how to plant, grow, and harvest carrots.
The carrot (Daucus carota subsp. sativus) is a root vegetable in the umbellifer family. Today’s cultivars are all domesticated forms of the wild carrot, Daucus carota, native to Europe and Southwestern Asia. The wild carrot has a more woodsy texture and is less palatable.
The colorful roots are usually orange, but there are also heirloom cultivars that come in purple, black, red, white, and yellow hues. Eaten raw or cooked, carrots are an excellent source of vitamins A, K, and B6 and also contain large quantities of beta-carotene and nutrients. The stems and leaves are rarely eaten, though they are edible.
Carrots grown in the garden taste more flavorful, fresher, and juicier because the sugar that makes a carrot sweet begins to be replaced by fiber as it ages in grocery stores. Another reason to grow carrots in the garden is because there are so many more varieties to try, from Belgian whites to Purple Dragon to Parisian heirlooms that are round! (Not all carrots are the grocery store shape.)
Don’t expect to get perfectly straight “grocery store” carrots in the garden, especially if your soil isn’t loose, well-drained, and sandy or loamy. Your carrots will still taste better, whatever their shape! READ FULL ARTICLE