Carrots

Carrots will thrive in any well-drained soil.

They should be grown in soil that has been manured the previous year for the preceding crop - if the soil is too rich you are likely to get mis-shapen, or forked roots.

Outdoor sowing in March is suitable for early varieties, in a warm border or under cloches. Carrots grown from these sowings will be ready by late May or early June. Thin to 2-3 inches apart when they have formed four leaves.

The main crop of seeds can be sown from the first two weeks of April onwards, in drills about half an inch deep and twelve inches apart. Cover the seeds with soil with the back of a rake and keep the surface level. The seedlings should be thinned firstly to two inches apart, then to six inches; later thinnings will be big enough to use.

Tread the soil really firmly after thinning as it will reduce the chance of it being decimated by the deadly carrot fly (see pests and diseases section for further information).

Drag the hoe through the rows of seedlings each week, and pull the soil right up over the plants to prevent the so-called ‘green shoulders’. October-November is the time for the lifting of the main crop of carrots, having removed the tops with a knife and cleared all the soil off the roots. They can be stored out of doors or under cover, and will keep very well in a nice dry shed, with sand between each layer.