The right preparation determines the success of the harvest
With carrots, the foundation for a rich harvest is laid when the soil is prepared. This should be loose and nutritious before sowing so that the main roots of the carrots can develop unhindered. Fertilization with manure should be done in autumn before carrot cultivation, otherwise the conditions for the seedlings are suboptimal and pests such as the carrot fly are magically attracted.
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Carrots need space to develop
When sowing carrots directly in the bed, less is often more. The tiny carrot seeds should be sown very sparingly in rows about 25 centimeters apart. If the plants that germinate after about three weeks are too dense, the delicious roots cannot develop optimally. Since this is the case in most cases, you will have to separate a few plants one way or another to make room for magnificent carrots.
An intermediate harvest also creates space
In principle, carrots do not need a certain minimum size in order to be ripe for consumption. You can therefore combine thinning out rows of carrots that are too dense with an intermediate harvest. For direct fresh consumption, carefully pull individual young carrots out of the row until there is a gap of at least five centimeters between the other plants in the row.
The continuous harvest through staggered sowing dates
Depending on the variety, carrots can often be sown under fleece as early as late February or early March. After a growing season of around three months, the first carrots can be harvested from the bed around May. Sow new rows at monthly intervals so that you can harvest fresh carrots from the garden all summer. The uses for carrots are extremely diverse:
- as a raw, healthy snack in between
- as a treat for dogs
- as a low-calorie ingredient in mixed vegetables
- as a tasty puree
- as a colorful soup insert
Tips & Tricks
If you harvest carrots from the bed in between, you should be careful to pull them out of the slightly damp soil. In this way you prevent the exposure of root necks that are not yet ready for harvest.
WK
