Permapotes

Carrot

Carrot: Sowing, planting and harvest calendar

The cultivated carrot, Daucus carota subsp. sativus, belongs to the Apiaceae family, alongside parsley and celery. This vegetable is chiefly valued for its fleshy root, which serves as a reserve for the plant. Above ground, it has finely divided foliage that looks quite different from the broad leaves of many other root vegetables. Carrots combine a light, delicate appearance in the garden with a firm texture that is familiar in everyday cooking.

Orange is the best-known colour, but varieties can also have yellow, white or purple roots. The colour visible on the outside does not necessarily extend uniformly throughout the root. Shapes vary as well: some carrots are long and tapered, while others are shorter, cylindrical or almost round. This diversity explains why the name carrot does not refer to just one appearance. Shape, colour and culinary qualities are separate considerations when you compare varieties, rather than interchangeable clues to the same characteristic.

The raw flesh has a crunchy texture and a generally sweet, mild taste, accompanied by a characteristic vegetable aroma. Cooking makes it more tender and changes the part played by texture in a dish. Differences in flavour between varieties cannot be reduced to colour: a purple carrot does not automatically taste stronger than an orange one. Firmness and sweetness also depend on the individual root. There is therefore genuine variation behind this very familiar vegetable, even when different types look similar at first glance.

Carrots are commonly eaten whole, as sticks or grated in raw preparations, and they also feature in juices. In cooked dishes, they accompany soups, purées, roasted vegetables and stews, including beef bourguignon. Their sweetness balances more acidic or strongly flavoured ingredients, while their colour adds a visible contrast. Small round types and long roots offer different possibilities for presentation, so their appeal extends beyond the amount of flesh they provide. The same vegetable can contribute either crispness or softness, depending on the dish.

The foliage forms a rosette of divided leaves with a soft, airy appearance. Carrots are biennial plants: their full life cycle includes a phase of root development followed by flowering, usually associated with the second year. Small white flowers are grouped in umbels, a characteristic of their botanical family. With delicate foliage, varied roots and both raw and cooked uses, carrots offer several complementary kinds of interest in the garden and the kitchen.

Carrot
Carrot
Characteristics
  • Lifecycle : Annual
  • Exposure : Full Sun
  • Frost Hardiness : Frost Resistant
  • Cultivation Difficulty : Medium
  • Mature height : 30 cm
Sowing & Planting
  • Greenhouse Growing : Not Required
  • Sowing Depth : 0.5 cm
  • Plant Spacing : 2 cm
  • Row Spacing : 25 cm
Maintenance
  • Maintenance : Moderate
  • Water Requirements : Moderate
Other characteristics
  • Soil Type : Sandy
  • Soil pH Preference : Neutral
  • Pest Sensitivity : Moderate
  • Disease Sensitivity : Moderate
  • Weed Sensitivity : Moderate
  • Pollination : Insect-pollinated
  • Propagation : Sowing