edwin
gardener
Posts: 141
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Post by edwin on Aug 6, 2012 13:33:11 GMT -5
Some questions on burying carrots:
We have planted a section of carrots that we are going to leave overwinter outdoors. This will be our first time. Our initial plan was to just leave the carrots unpicked in the ground.
We leave leeks unpicked in the ground to overwinter with very good success. Are carrots not as hardy as leeks?
When you bury your carrots what do you do? Cover with 18" of earth?
I'm thinking maybe it would make sense to try to store some of our overwinter carrot crop in a different fashion to see what happens. We usually have excellent snow coverage.
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Post by kwilds on Aug 6, 2012 14:01:18 GMT -5
Speaking of cytoplasmic male sterility . . . I was not planning on segregating any of the carrot varieties I have - just let them all cross as they may and make my selections. One of the varieties I grew this year is a hybrid. It is also one of the yummiest so far! I know that most, maybe even all, hybrids are going to be male sterile so is there any point in keeping this one for seed? If I do let it go to seed with my other OP varieties will it contaminate the rest of the seed? Male sterile carrots grow fine... They will accept pollen from any other carrot that is producing pollen. Therefore, they may produce seeds. If there are no nearby domestic pollen sources, they are very susceptible to pollination by Queen Ann's Lace. Any seeds produced will be male sterile. If you eventually want to create your own hybrid carrots you could use these plants as the mothers. Since the cytoplasmic sterility is carried only by the mother plant, the only way that it can contaminate the rest of the crop is if you save seeds from that plant either intentionally or accidentally. When I became aware of this topic my carrot landrace was about 70% male sterile. It grew fine. The 30% of plants that were producing pollen were enough to pollinate the whole patch. I made the decision for my garden that I will not knowingly propagate plants contaminated by cytoplasmic male sterility, so I have been eliminating male sterile plants whenever I find them. Thanks Joseph - I think I get it! Deep down in my gut I don't really feel right about propagating the sterility either . . . maybe a better solution would be to start searching for some tasty white OP carrots to add! Lucky for me there is no Queen Anne's Lace anywhere near enough to me to bother my carrot crops! No wild lettuce that I can find either (I save lettuce seed as well.) I do a search every spring/summer around my property to make sure but so far so good! |
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Post by kwilds on Aug 6, 2012 14:13:22 GMT -5
Some questions on burying carrots: We have planted a section of carrots that we are going to leave overwinter outdoors. This will be our first time. Our initial plan was to just leave the carrots unpicked in the ground. We leave leeks unpicked in the ground to overwinter with very good success. Are carrots not as hardy as leeks? When you bury your carrots what do you do? Cover with 18" of earth? I'm thinking maybe it would make sense to try to store some of our overwinter carrot crop in a different fashion to see what happens. We usually have excellent snow coverage. I have always stored carrots and other root crops in rubbermaid tubs with damp sand (which is kept in a cold room in our house for easy access.) Most of the time they do great as long as the area I keep them in is cold enough. My husbands uncle buries a garbage can in the garden and stores his root crops in that - he loves that system and has promised to show me his system in the fall. I have also left carrots in the ground overwinter and what a fantastic treat in early spring when the first bit of green growth starts to show! I do think the ones that have been in the ground all winter seem sweeter than those stored indoors in sand - or maybe it is just the fact that it is one of the first things I can pick out of the garden when it thaws in March/April!! This year I will store much of my crop as usual but I will be leaving many of them in the ground to over winter. |
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Aug 6, 2012 14:32:25 GMT -5
I dig a hole 18" deep in an out of the way corner of the garden, lay the carrots in the hole and put the dirt back over them... I usually mound it up a bit with surrounding soil so that there won't be any standing water in the vicinity. I store potatoes, beets, and turnips in the same way. If I store cabbage like this, I wrap it in a newspaper first.
My grandpa stored his root crops and apples in a pit dug in the yard, but it was about 3 feet deep, and he put the things in buckets in the pit, (not covered with soil), and covered the top of the pit with plywood, and insulation board, and then lots and lots of straw. His method made it possible to remove things during mid-winter.
Some years carrots will survive in the ground that they grew in if mulched, but it only takes one cold-snap without snow-cover to ruin the crop so it's safer for me to bury them deep.
Today I ate an apple that I harvested in September. It was still a decent apple.
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edwin
gardener
Posts: 141
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Post by edwin on Aug 7, 2012 8:07:55 GMT -5
potatoes, beets, and turnips in the same way. If I store cabbage like this, I wrap it in a newspaper first. Ok - will do a mix this year I think - cold celler and in ground and 18" pit. Will keep in mind that a cold snap without snow will do in carrots in ground. Will also experiment with potatoes (sounds absolutely fabulous for seed potatoes) beets, turnips, cabbage, winter radish, celerac, and whatever else I can think of. |
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Post by 12540dumont on Aug 7, 2012 10:58:03 GMT -5
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Post by s2man on Aug 7, 2012 16:15:51 GMT -5
Depending on your climate, a thick layer of mulch should allow you to dig carrots all winter. I just read a book by a yet another fellow in Utah, and that is his standard method and I've used it. Of course, that may not be an option for the many member who report moles, voles and gophers in their gardens.
I've dug carrots out of frozen ground and they were fine. But it wasn't much fun (we were pretty hungry).
I've met several folks who bury an old fridge or freezer for a root cellar. I think I would still want straw bales on top of it for extra insulation, but it would still be easy to access your roots.
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Post by 12540dumont on Aug 7, 2012 20:55:46 GMT -5
I know, I should put this in the Carrot Trial Stuff. The potato folks at Irish EYEs/Ronnigers recommend burying a fridge as well. This photo is for Cesar. Gadzooks Cesar! (of NZ) Now that's a carrot. Well over a pound. Yummy too. Thank you! Holly Attachments:
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