Carrots Paris Market Atlas

Get ready for lots of orange and green, carrots are just so distinctively coloured.

I think when I decided to grow carrots I was mainly taken in by the packaging for these seeds.  Not because cartoon carrots with smiley faces appeal to me but for the fact they are aimed at kids, for surely anything aimed at a child is a guaranteed grow for an adult no?  Thats my theory anyway.  This was at a time when I was having very little success with my seeds and needed a little sprouting pick-me-up.
Having clay soil, my only option were pots so having turfed out a couple of Fuchsias I filled with compost and sprinkled seed across the top, job done.  I hate this compost, its one specially designed to hold more water but as far as I can tell its just full of weed.

A carrot variety for kids, and me it turns out.

Germination was quick and even, as far as I remember, a covering of feathery green tops across the surface within a couple of weeks.  The packet instructed the grower to 'thin' the carrots by pulling out ones growing too near each other, but rather than just follow the packets advice I as usual consulted the mother who told me to do something completely different.  No no, she cried, wait for them to grow a bit and then you can eat the thin-ings when you pull them out.

So over the next couple of months I pulled out the occasional carrot to check on progress but all were effectively tiny orange coloured roots.  Then of course I had to move both pots to avoid carrot fly.  And so it continued; check and move, check and move etc.  Then finally at the end of August, one decent orange beauty!  Finally, all plump and round (Paris Market Atlas are round ball-shaped carrots.  As previously stated, round appeals greatly to me).  But still disappointingly tiny.
Finally after several months I just couldn't take it anymore and pulled up a whole bunch to thin.  Despite going for the biggest, most green and luscious tops the resulting carrots could only be described as aperitifs at best rather than a full accompaniment.  I still found it exciting, but then Im easily pleased.

The first proper carrot, a true tiny beauty but I think Bugs Bunny would be disappointed. 

But it turns out, carrots do come to those who wait.  Upon an occasional inspection of my pots I spotted a few orange carrot shoulders breaking through the soil, so of course they had to come out.  I tried to pull up only the very biggest, which at best is cherry tomato sized, but I got a nice little crop.  Weirdly one pot yielded significantly larger produce than the other despite being grown in exactly the same conditions.  We had a scant meal with these, other food was required of course to pad it out.  I left some in situ in the hope they might fatten, eventually pulling them out only marginally larger for fear the worms might get them.

The first crop, small but perfectly formed.

I will definitely be growing carrots again next year, not that they exactly had much of an impact on my diet, but they are fun to grow.  In being sub-terraneous, growing hidden away from sight there is an element of lucky dip in occasionally pulling one out to see what you get.  Funs good enough for me, especially as they are absolutely no effort, other than the regular pot shifting to avoid fly obviously.  Its like lucky dip and an arm workout combined, win win all round.

The carrots in the outer ring are twice the size of those in the ring for no apparent reason at all.