Rodelika Carrot

£2.50

18 in stock

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This maincrop variety has a good, strong, carroty taste. Chunky, but not too long and with a blunt end, so suitable for heavier soils. They’re happy in the ground over winter, but will store well too.

Approx. 500 seeds per pack.

Additional information: Carrots are so popular here in Wales as well as the rest of the UK, it’s difficult to imagine a veg plot
without them! This particular variety was bred to be grown under organic conditions from the outset, so
does well without chemical inputs. Intensely orange in colour, it has a strong, sweet, aromatic taste, and
is apparently ideal for juicing, due to its high Brix value.
It’s a maincrop type, and is good for heavier soils as they have blunt ends and don’t grow hugely long and
skinny. They’ll still be good and chunky by the time you harvest them in the autumn though, and are also
happy left in the ground to pull as required over the winter. With good storage ability too, we think
they’re a great all rounder.

Botanical name: Daucus Carota

Grown by: Carolyn Moody

Carrots do best in in fine, stone free soil so they can grow a nice, uniform root. Sow outdoors in situ in mid to late spring, sprinkling the seed into rows about 8” apart before covering with fine soil. Thin to about 3” apart as they grow and keep weed free. Keep moist though the season.

Carrots grow best in well drained, fine, stone free soil, enabling them to produce a nice, straight, uniform root, so you may need to do a bit of bed prep before-hand to get the best results. Here in Wales a lot of the soil is quite heavy clay, so you might be better off choosing a shorter, stumpier variety. They also prefer full sun, and a fertile, but not overly rich or recently manured soil, otherwise they’ll become ‘forky’.

Carrots don’t like their roots being disturbed when they’re small, so are best sown outdoors in situ from April to July. Make a shallow drill, about ½” deep, then sprinkle in the seed as thinly as you can. Lightly cover with fine soil and water in. New shoots are very susceptible to slugs and snails, so you might need to protect them, and you’ll need to be patient as the seeds can take a while to germinate, especially if you’ve sown them early.

Keep them weed free, and gradually thin out the seedlings as they grow, to approx 3” apart and water regularly throughout the season.

Your biggest issue will probably be carrot root fly, the larvae of which like to burrow into the carrot, making a large proportion of it inedible. The adult fly is attracted by the smell of the carrot, which is particularly strong when you damage the leaves. Make sure you sow them thinly to avoid lots of thinning, and when you do thin or harvest, try not to damage the leaves. You could use a physical barrier, such as fleece or net, or try growing a strong smelling crop around the carrots, such as something from the allium family, to help disguise the smell.

Carrots can be sown successionally throughout the season for an ongoing crop, and harvested when they’re big enough to eat. Depending on the variety, they’ll happily stay in the ground all the way into winter. However, if you have particularly harsh winters, or rodents are a problem, many varieties of carrot now store well, so you can lift them all at once and store in a box of compost or sandy soil in a cold, dark place such as a garden shed.