As our nighttime temperatures are drifting into the very low twenties, I figured I’d better get at it and pull the remaining carrots and parsnips. Wow! They have gotten huge. Even our Scarlet Nantes are reaching a foot long and weighing in at over a pound. That’s a lot of carrot. And they’re so tender and crisp that when I gently toss them into a five-gallon bucket, some instantly snap in half or crack with a pop. I’ve got one five-gallon bucket all canned up and will get at the next one this morning. Boy, are they ever nice.
While I’ve been canning carrots, Will is busy pulling all of the tomato stakes, cages, and variety name stakes. He piled all the vines in huge piles to burn in the garden if it ever stops raining, then he raked all of the tangled squash and pumpkin vines into a row along the side of the garden, also to burn. By burning them we help prevent disease and keep insects from over wintering in the vines. Also, the ash adds a little fertilizer (potash) to the soil. Will wants to get the whole garden tilled before the soil freezes.
My parsnips grew funny this year. Instead of being long and thin as usual, they’re short and fat, almost like a beet! But they taste great and will be easy to peel and cook without waste. We’ll add them to the bins of potatoes, carrots, and rutabagas in the basement.
Monday we went down to my son, Bill’s, and helped him finish the sheet metal he’s laying on the old garage roof to match the new addition. The weather was supposed to be sunny and nice. Well… we hit rain in Cloquet, twenty some miles from his house and it continued until we got there. Bill was already on the roof, screwing down one-inch boards over the old shingles, on which to screw the sheet metal. Did I mention the temperature was forty degrees?
Luckily, Kelly’s two uncles, Mel and Vern, had already shown up so that made a good crew. They finished up after dark and Bill’s last screw was driven by the tiny light on Will’s Dewalt cordless driver. It was that dark. Luckily, the rain quit just as we got there so the guys weren’t too miserable all day, but the temperature never got over 45 degrees. But the job’s done, including the trim and ridge cap and it looks really nice. Now Bill can go deer hunting without that job hanging over his head. We got home just after eleven after being stopped on the highway by the State Patrol. We couldn’t figure out what he stopped us for as Will wasn’t speeding in our old ’85 Chev truck. It was a headlight that was out. We hadn’t even noticed! Will raised the hood and wiggled the wire. The headlight popped back on. The patrolman was nice and we were back on the road with two headlights! Seeing blue and red flashing lights up behind you sure makes your heart race. — Jackie
Caging might be doable. Plus I could grow more than one variety without them crossing! Thanks for the tip!!!
Ellandra,
Talk about rocky soil! Our garden is on the other side of the hill from an old gravel pit. We have taken out several truckloads of big rocks from just our one big garden. But finally we’re getting real nice carrots. It takes stick-to-it and work though.
Saving carrot seed when you have a bounty of wild carrots (Queen Anne’s Lace) is tough. They readily cross. Unfortunately, when crossed, the “babies” usually tend to get bitter, white roots like wild carrots, not the other way around. Phooey! Some folks have luck by clipping wild carrot blooms just before they open so the tame carrots are not affected by the wild pollen or caging the tame carrots with screen so the pollen is not transferred by insects. (You do have to hand-pollinate these caged carrots.)
Rick Riley,
Carrots are a challenging crop to grow. Luckily, when you get your weeds under control, they get easier. You might try pelleted carrot seed for awhile. The seeds are coated with a natural clay coating, making them much larger and easier to see so you can space them nicely. Then you don’t get hair-on-the-dog carrotlings. I do take great care in scattering my regular carrot seeds pretty lightly. Then I make sure I keep ’em well watered so they pop up quickly. Plant them when the soil warms up so they’ll come up quickly. Although you CAN plant them early, early plantings take much longer to come up. As soon as they have about two sets of “real” leaves, go down the row and both thin and pull weeds. Then when they’re about four inches tall, mulch the row, thin again and again weed. Hopefully, this will do it for you. Great carrots for Rick! !
The third Jess Hazzard book, Winter of the Wolves, should be out about Dec 1st, a bit later than we initially figured. Just like everything in life….
Janice,
I actually have NO idea of how many jars are in my pantry, full. But I do know that every year I end up needing more jars. This year it’s quarts. Whew. But I’m so happy the pantry is getting so full it’s overflowing into the basement shelves.
Carrots are on my list for next year. I have such heavy, rocky soil that I’m gonna have to dig out that BHM article about carrot varieties.
Saving seed is going to be a trick, though. In addition to having to overwinter them, I have a hefty crop of wild carrots on my land just waiting to cross-pollinate!
Heck, maybe I’ll let them cross on purpose and see if I can improve the wild ones.
I planted my carrots and beets in great huge tractor tires and for the first time actually had both. Gone so much to fairs that my Sunday school class came and got some. Better then going to waste. But there is a few of them I will try to can. Pickled beets and glazed carrots. YUM!! Love them both.
Miss Jackie,
It has been perhaps 10 years since I grew carrots. The reason is it seems they are a great deal of tedious work trying to sow seed thinly enough that it doesn’t come up thick as hair on a deer hide, then when seeds are up the plants are so tiny that they are difficult to weed without pulling multitudes of the seedlings out. When I get them to a size where they have tiny 1 inch carrots it goes a lot better and they produce beautifully in my soil. What is your secret.Perhaps you could give a tutorial on how you produce those beauties in the blog soon?????
I am waiting in anticipation of Jess Hazard’s next adventure!!!!
Rick
Jackie, I’m amazed at how much canning you do every year. I’d love to know how many canning jars you have and how many jars you fill each year.
Glad it all worked out with the roof and the ride home! The carrots are beautiful. Thanks for the update Jackie!
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