Growing Carrots

Carrots are probably one of the easiest vegetables to grow. It is kind of like that infomercial where you “set it and forget it.” Well, maybe not quite the forget it part; however, they are practically fool proof.

Planting and Care

The carrot seed packet will tell you the proper spacing and depth to plant carrots, but for me, being the rebel planter I am, I tend to just make a couple long shallow trenches and sprinkle the seeds within the trenches. You can always start the seeds indoors in the early Spring and space the seedlings evenly when ready to plant into the ground; however, I feel like it is just easier to start them directly into the ground. Lightly cover the trench and gently water the entire planted area. Continue to water them every 3 to 4 days if the soil has dried out. Keep the soil moist but not saturated. Too much water could cause the seeds to rot. Carrots are very drought tolerant.

Once you have nice little sprouted tops on the carrots (about 3 inches high), thin out the carrots to be a few inches apart. This does help the carrots not have to compete with each other for nutrients and prevent split roots. I am not going to lie when I say that sometimes I just let them grow as they may and do not thin them out. They tend to grow together and make some interesting shapes. I do not encourage this approach, but it is fun to experiment.

Harvesting

Carrots can be tricky to know when to harvest them if you are just looking at the carrot tops. There could be big beautiful plumes of leafy greens on top, but the carrot itself still has a long way to grow. From the day of sowing, carrots should be ready for harvest in 3 to 4 months. Sometimes I let them go until late Fall, and then harvest them all.

Varieties

There are so many different varieties of carrots. My favorites are Rubypak and Yaya carrots for their size and flavor. I tend to stay away from white carrots or super dark colored carrots. The dark carrots, depending upon how they are being used, can turn your food into odd, off-putting colors. The white carrots tend to be too… hmm… uninteresting for me, but maybe I have not had a good tasting one yet. Do not let me sway you. Definitely give them all a try and find your favorites.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

My absolute favorite way to use my carrot harvest is to grate them and make carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. I have to thank Ian Garten for the recipes. I did alter the cupcake recipe slightly, but I think I did Ian proud. She’s THE BEST!

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Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar

• 1 1/3 cups vegetable oil

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 3 extra-large eggs

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

• 2 teaspoons baking soda

• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

• 3 cups grated carrots (less than 1 pound)

• 1 – 20 oz can crushed pineapple (well-drained)

• Cream Cheese Frosting

• 3/4 pound cream cheese, at room temperature

• 1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 1 pound confectioners’ sugar

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Directions

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Beat the sugar, oil, and vanilla together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the eggs, 1 at a time. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add 1/2 of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Add the grated carrots and crushed pineapple to the batter. Mix until just combined.
• Line muffin pans with paper liners. Scoop the batter into 22 muffin cups until each is 3/4 full. Bake for 10 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and cook for a further 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a rack.
• For the frosting, cream the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the sugar and beat until smooth.
• When the cupcakes are cool, frost them generously and serve.