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Post by kazedwards on Apr 11, 2014 8:41:50 GMT -5
Are wild carrots white? I have what looks like carrot tops growing a few feet away from my garden. I thought that they were just a few carrot seeds that blew there when I was plant some last year but I just tried to pull some up and barely got the top. It looks like it is white. I have only planted orange carrots before so now I'm thinking that it wasn't any if those. I could dig some up but they are right above under ground power lines and I'm kinda lazy. Any thoughts?
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Post by oxbowfarm on Apr 11, 2014 8:59:34 GMT -5
Yes, they are white. Carrot is the domesticated version of Queen Anne's Lace, they make carrot seed saving challenging. |
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Post by kazedwards on Apr 11, 2014 13:18:21 GMT -5
That is really interesting. I wonder what would happen if they crossed? Should I get rid of them? Or just make sure they don't go to seed at the same? I have never saved seed before and I am wanting to try with most things this year. Carrots of course would be next but I'm sure the wild ones will still be there.
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Post by kazedwards on Apr 11, 2014 13:19:21 GMT -5
Are they edible too?
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Post by paquebot on Apr 11, 2014 13:53:47 GMT -5
All carrots, wild or otherwise, are edible. Being palatable might be subjective.
Martin
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Post by richardw on Apr 11, 2014 15:06:52 GMT -5
How much of the Queen Anne's Lace do you have growing nearby Zach
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Post by oxbowfarm on Apr 11, 2014 17:38:45 GMT -5
They are extremely woody, but very aromatic. I have used them many times in soup stock, where they are strained out after the stock has cooked. They work great for that application. You could no doubt eat them raw, but I'd call them starvation food only other than as a stock flavor-er.
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Post by kazedwards on Apr 13, 2014 17:20:39 GMT -5
It is very invasive but I have not seen any nearby sence we moved here 3 years ago
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Post by raymondo on Apr 13, 2014 17:27:42 GMT -5
There are other plants that look similar. I check by pulling out as much as will come and smelling it. The carrot smell is unmistakable. I hadn't thought of using them for stock. That's a great idea. They are definitely NOT a pleasure to eat raw - woody and rather bitter.
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Post by mjc on Apr 13, 2014 21:57:32 GMT -5
It is very invasive but I have not seen any nearby sence we moved here 3 years ago Nearby is a relative distance...and for carrots it's more than a couple hundred feet. It's at least 1/2 mile (about 800 meters). I've got so much QAL here that, even if I dumped enough RoundUp to denude the county, I still would not be able to save carrot seed. |
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Post by steev on Apr 13, 2014 23:58:24 GMT -5
Are we quite sure there are no problems with Cow parsnip and such? I admit to tending to think these poisonous plants are rather similar to QAL and carrots.
Is it a geographioal separation thing?
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Post by ilex on Apr 14, 2014 2:21:51 GMT -5
White is dominant, so crossed ones will be white and can be culled. Crosses are usually thin, Woody and bolt early.
Of course, you can also cross QAL and after a couple generations get some that are not white.
In Asia there is purple and yellow? QAL
I think you can save seed as long is not a white variety, and is for personal use. You will have some crosses. If you cull nearby QAL most seed should be pure.
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Post by imgrimmer on Apr 14, 2014 4:33:37 GMT -5
I thought Queen annes Lace is poisonous. This is what I have in mind since my school time.
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Post by ilex on Apr 14, 2014 5:29:29 GMT -5
No it's not, it's just a wild carrot. There are similar related plants that are poisonous, and there is the danger.
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Post by mjc on Apr 14, 2014 10:14:57 GMT -5
Are we quite sure there are no problems with Cow parsnip and such? I admit to tending to think these poisonous plants are rather similar to QAL and carrots. Is it a geographioal separation thing? Carrot is Daucus carota (including QAL). Since all carrots are just domesticated QAL, they'll very easily cross. There's another Daucus species out in the Western US...sometimes known as rattlesnake weed. Looks a lot like QAL, but much smaller. Cow parsnip, hemlock and others are of a different genera..so are dill, anise, parsley and many other herbs/spices. Crossing within the same species (variety, breed, selection, etc) and either another variety or the wild 'type' is dirt easy/very common and must be carefully avoided to provide 'pure' strains/varieties. Crossing subspecies with other subs or the 'parent' are also pretty easy to achieve/are somewhat common. Crossing other species in the same genus, while doable isn't something that's all that common without intentional intervention, and even then success rates are much lower. Crossing two different genera in the same family may be doable, but it's not going to be easy or happen all that often without a lab full of equipment/time/effort. And if it does, it's very probable that any resulting seed will have reduced/next to no viability, reduced vigor, never mature or some other problem along those lines. And once you get above that level (family...although subfamily is still harder than genera), you get from extremely difficult to nearly impossible, to don't even think about it, unless you want to use gene splicing techniques... So, basically while all those other things are in the same family, being different genera makes the chances of wild cross slim to none...and if it did occur the chance of it even being viable is even lower. Besides, we don't worry about dill and anise crossing with each or with carrots. And by geographic do you mean something bigger than 'local area'? Basically you'll need about a 1/2 mile radius around your carrots to be QAL free...or grow them in screened areas that are completely bee/small pollinator free... You can't really do a time separation, because the bloom time is basically all summer/growing season. |
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