CARROTS!
Some of you may remember that earlier this year, a coworker dropped a baggy of seeds on my desk and pronounced that I was to plant them. I did so, in a planter on my balcony. They sprouted very quickly, and I was delighted to see the tender shoots pushing up out of the soil.
In the meanwhile, I purchased some lettuce starts at a local farmer's market. I planted them and left them to their own devices for a while. Eventually, I began to harvest the leaves and had delicious, delicately flavored salads about twice a week. But the carrots stayed in the planters. I just wasn't sure of when the right time would be to pick them.
Finally, I read somewhere that when the carrots' shoulders began to be visible above the soil line, it was time to pick them. I decided to leave them in the planters until it got cold, because as it gets colder, sugars tend to accumulate in the root, making for a sweeter vegetable.
Well, yesterday I couldn't stand it anymore and I picked some of the carrots with the tallest leaf stalks. And--voila!--they were carrots: mostly short little guys (the one on the far left is about the size of my thumb, to give you some sense of scale), but they were carrots, and they were tender and delicious.
As I noted to a friend, the big one in the middle was my volunteer carrot. It grew unattended and unplanned in one of my coleus planters. I'm not sure why it got so big, but it was delicious. I suspect it might have been optimally positioned for sunlight, so I'll need to experiment next year with positioning.
In the meanwhile, I still have carrots in the planters, though I suspect most of what's left will be tiny little guys. Still, I'll pick them and enjoy them. And I can't wait to try again next year with, perhaps, deeper planters if I can find them.
In the meanwhile, I purchased some lettuce starts at a local farmer's market. I planted them and left them to their own devices for a while. Eventually, I began to harvest the leaves and had delicious, delicately flavored salads about twice a week. But the carrots stayed in the planters. I just wasn't sure of when the right time would be to pick them.
Finally, I read somewhere that when the carrots' shoulders began to be visible above the soil line, it was time to pick them. I decided to leave them in the planters until it got cold, because as it gets colder, sugars tend to accumulate in the root, making for a sweeter vegetable.
Well, yesterday I couldn't stand it anymore and I picked some of the carrots with the tallest leaf stalks. And--voila!--they were carrots: mostly short little guys (the one on the far left is about the size of my thumb, to give you some sense of scale), but they were carrots, and they were tender and delicious.
As I noted to a friend, the big one in the middle was my volunteer carrot. It grew unattended and unplanned in one of my coleus planters. I'm not sure why it got so big, but it was delicious. I suspect it might have been optimally positioned for sunlight, so I'll need to experiment next year with positioning.
In the meanwhile, I still have carrots in the planters, though I suspect most of what's left will be tiny little guys. Still, I'll pick them and enjoy them. And I can't wait to try again next year with, perhaps, deeper planters if I can find them.