Should you want to bite into that sweet, home-grown carrot or parsnip, sow your seeds in late winter/early Spring.
How To Grow Your Own Carrots or Parsnips?
- Dig over the soil in late winter or even early spring. Get rid of any stones you find. Turn the soil until it has a crumbly, fine texture. Carrots and parsnips love growing in sunny spaces, with fertile, light, stone free, sandy soil.
- Rake some general fertilizer into the soil a week before you sow your seeds.
- Pick a dry, sunny day to sow the seeds in shallow drills approximately 2-3cm (1inch) deep. Ensure you cover the seeds once they are in place. You can protect early sowings in March and April with cloche in certain parts of the country.
- Upon the seed germination as well as visibility of the first coarse carrot/parsnip leaves, thin the seedlings to 5cm (2 inches) between each plant.
- As the plants get bigger, they need to be thinned to 15cm (6 inches).
- Water the plants well during the growth period. Should you water too little, you will find that they develop woody, coarse roots.
- In June-July, as soon as the carrots look large enough to eat, start pulling them out.
- Should you have heavy chalky, stony or clay soil, you can grow the less-demanding short-root varieties, or grow in a raised bed or large container.
What You Need to Grow Carrots or Parsnips
- Garden Fork
- Carrot seeds
- Rake
- General fertilizer
