Kitchen Garden Forum

I think I know the answer but I'll ask anyway. Forgive the horticultual ignorance but I wondered if there are any autumn/winter sown carrots at all? I know that some things like broad beans can be sown in the autumn for an early crop and wondered if there were any carrots planted early in a similar manner. Most of the varieties I've seen in seed catalogues start from February onwards.

Michael

This one, if you can find it.

Carrot:Nantes Frubund:Fast Crop

Highly commended by the Royal Horticultural Society, UK. It is the first genuine autumn sowing carrot, exceptionally early and cold resistant. It will give you carrots in your garden in the spring when nobody else has them and when they are fetching high prices in the shops. A very important autumn sowing vegetable breakthrough.

Sowing Instructions. Sow from late winter to autumn in drills 1cm (½in) deep, spaced 30cm (12in) apart.

If you can give them some cover try a fast maturing type in containers in the greenhouse. I've just sown two lots of Amsterdam-3 Sprint and will do some more in a few weeks. With luck they can be pulled as baby carrots or left to grow and put outside when things warm up in spring.

Tony Hague wrote:This one, if you can find it.

Carrot:Nantes Frubund:Fast Crop

Highly commended by the Royal Horticultural Society, UK. It is the first genuine autumn sowing carrot, exceptionally early and cold resistant. It will give you carrots in your garden in the spring when nobody else has them and when they are fetching high prices in the shops. A very important autumn sowing vegetable breakthrough.

Sowing Instructions. Sow from late winter to autumn in drills 1cm (½in) deep, spaced 30cm (12in) apart.

Thank you Tony for the info - I assumed that none were available. I'm going to try and get some of these and experiment with them.

Solway Cropper - unfortunately I don't have a greenhouse but as a member of a community garden I should be able to plant some autumn sown ones outside to see how they do.

Michael

Hi Michael,
There are several varieties of Carrot that you can sow up until the end of August. I have been home here for a few days and I have planted two rows of Autumn King 2 which will be ready for lifting in late December to late January. I have done this for many years and they have never failed to please. They also store very well. My Carrots are now always grown under fine netting but even before I used the netting I didn't get much Carrot Fly damage with growing this late. Depending where you are slugs may present a problem. Mine are protected with slug pellets placed carefully and not scattered. Again very moderate damage. Hungry Voles
can be a bit of a problem and they might bite the top off the Carrot but only the top and the rest is normally salvageable.
What ever you choose I wish you the best of luck with the crop.
JB.

Thankyou, Johnboy, for a timely reminder! Have just been out to sow a few Autumn King...