Kitchen Garden Forum

We've had quite a good crop of Autumn King carrots, some of which I pull about now, slice and freeze for cooking. But I'd like to keep some for as long as possible to eat raw. What's the best way - leave them in the ground or pull up and try and "store" in some way?
Many thanks for any advice.

Sorry, moderator. Just realised I should have put this post under Harvesting etc.

I store mine in boxes of dry (multipurpose) compost which I keep out in an unheated outhouse next to the freezer. They sometimes send up some shoots, but this doesn't seem to have been detrimental!
Last year was the first time that I successfully grew enough to last much beyond Christmas, but when I finally used them all up in March/April, they were still perfectly ok. The flavour was still good.

I don't wash them before storing, but I let them dry, and check carefully that the ones that will be in the box for a long time are not damaged. Any that are obviously damaged, I either use straight away or freeze. Those that I am not sure about go at the top of the box to be used as soon as possible. Oh, and bigger ones will keep longer than small ones - keep that in mind when you come to use them!

Hello John
I would leave them exactly where they are unless you need to space for something else. Autumn King lives up to its name and will keep in the ground till well on into the winter. If slugs are a serious problem then you might consider lifting and storing. I lift the remaining crop in late winter only because I need to get the ground ready and then I just put them in a poly sack. They keep quite well for a month or so like this.
All I would do now is to draw up a little soil to cover the tops to stop them greening up and put a few slug pellets around.

John

Yes, I would agree with John. Autmn King will keep well in the ground. In my opinion the roots will stay more crisp and sweet. The only other thing I would do is perhaps cover with some straw should there be a very hard frost but even then they usually stand temperatures well below zero.

Beryl.

We leave ours in the ground but cover with some straw. They remaining under the environmesh too. They are just as fresh as when picking now and keep until they start to grow again in early spring

I pull mine up and when I've rarely had a surplus, store them in some dry peat as I find the slugs just eat them when they're left in the ground. Funny though, I always leave my parsnips in the ground and they don't seem to touch them. This year I'm going to leave my celeriac in the ground too rather than storing it in peat. Perhaps some root vegetables have too strong a smell for the slugs to fancy them.

I lift them for exactly the same reason as Primrose - because the slugs eat mine otherwise! I also find that they are more prone to splitting if left in the ground.
Maybe it depends on soil type???