It used to be it was impossible to screw up a carrot. I don't care where we have grown these things, be it in Colorado or Wisconsin, you plant the seeds and out come carrots all long, fat, usually sweet and fit for just a plane old afternoon treat. In fact, one family members calls them carrotyphones and just gnaws on them like a rabbit--he looks like one as all of our clan has big teeth of a carnivore type.
I mean, they are a good treat, full of natural sugars, and not the high fructose type of corn derivation, have other comfortable nutrients and will turn your skin orange if you eat too many---just like John Boehner in our congress. He eats to may carrots, that is it.
This year I planted a nice batch in the west garden and they took off. In fact, had a great germination. I was impressed and made sure they had appropriate water. About mid summer I pulled one of the little suckers, only to find out it was a stubby, a one inch long nub of nothing. It was as if going deep was wrong, like the soil sucked and they wanted no part of it.
A bit later, I tried another and found not only stubbies but misshapened longer roots that had been the victim of some rampaging insect. I finally found one of the scoundrels and fed it to the Blue Gills in the rain barrel. Here and there was a good one but while the greens were better than normal the roots, were doing the dirt nap.
So, harvest time roles around and the pulling started. There in the pile is nothing but stubbies and worm-savaged, deformed, woody carrotyphones barely worth the time of day. In the end, we butchered them up and canned maybe 6 quarts but our hearts were saddened by the failure. Normally, this would be a great famine food, one to hold off the wolves of spring. This year it will be dandelions and burdock.
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