Cosmic Carrots

August 25, 2012 by outofmyshed

First the potatoes and now the carrots. Can veg growing get any more exciting than this? I grew these carrots in a bucket on a balcony, well above the pesky carrot fly’s cruising height, and have been rewarded with these spectacular psychedelic roots. I’ve never grown ‘Rainbow Mix’ before, but it’s on the list for next year already!

I was talking to fellow blogger Veronica at Through the Garden Gate about the enduring delight of digging up potatoes and she says for her the excitement never wanes as it’s like hunting for hidden treasure. And I really felt like this too, waiting to see which colours were next to appear. I marvelled that having sowed and thinned out the carrots randomly, there was still an even amount of oranges, reds, purples and yellows in the bucket. So after the quickest of washes, I started nibbling at the different colours and found that they were all remarkably sweet. What’s more, they retain their colour when cooked.

I have to admit that the purple ones are my favourites though as they still have an orange flesh which contrasts in a very groovy fashion with their rich exterior. These purple carrots can be bought separately as ‘Purple Haze’ or ‘Cosmic Purple’ -still firmly in the realms of psychedelia then!

Posted in 'How to', Carrots, Vegetables | Tagged avoiding carroy fly, carrots in containers, cosmic carrots, cosmic purple carrots, Coured carrors, growing carrots in a bucket, growing vegetables in small spaces, Harvesting carrots, purple carrots, purple haze carrots, Rainbow mix carrots, red carrots, through the garden gate blog, vegetables for containers, Veronica Perrless, yellow carrots | 18 Comments

18 Responses

on August 25, 2012 at 10:21 am | Reply Anna

We grew ‘Purple Haze’in the ground this year and, despite some hit and miss germination, they have been spectacular. I love the idea of a Rainbow Mix, where did you get them from?
- on August 26, 2012 at 7:04 am | Reply outofmyshed
  
  HI Anna, the rainbow mix came from http://www.pennardplants.com/ Looking forward to growing Purple Haze next year too.
  - on August 26, 2012 at 8:16 am Anna
    
    Thank you. Bookmarked for future reference.
on August 25, 2012 at 2:17 pm | Reply Weeding the Web

All those betacarotenes must be so good for us, too.
- on August 26, 2012 at 7:12 am | Reply outofmyshed
  
  Hi Helen, I could taste the goodness in every bite! love the Helen Davies floral keyboard and mouse at http://www.johnlewis.com/231725662/Product.aspx you wrote about. Tempting ……
on August 25, 2012 at 4:19 pm | Reply Sue

Brilliant in every way.
- on August 26, 2012 at 7:08 am | Reply outofmyshed
  
  Indeed!
on August 26, 2012 at 12:25 pm | Reply Jayne on Weed Street

I never would have believed you could grow carrots that way! Yours look so much better than the ones I saw at the farmers market yesterday!!
- on August 26, 2012 at 4:37 pm | Reply outofmyshed
  
  Thanks Jayne! Couldn’t believe how good they looked myself! I have also grown some at my allotment, so will dig them up soon, but a bit fearful that they may have been got at by carrot fly…..
on August 31, 2012 at 1:32 pm | Reply The Under-Gardener

Wow. these are beautiful!
I’m now tempted to try “carrots in a bucket” in my back yard.. 🙂
- on September 2, 2012 at 1:42 pm | Reply outofmyshed
  
  Hi Under Gardener, try and find the biggest bucket/container you can lay your hands on and I’m sure you’ll have loads of these gorgeous roots. I used John Innes compost to keep them nice and moist and was delighted with my efforts. Good luck for next year!
on August 31, 2012 at 7:50 pm | Reply Veronica

Lovely! I’ve never grown carrots, but I’m sure I’d get the same thrill from pulling these up as I do from potatoes! x
- on September 2, 2012 at 1:44 pm | Reply outofmyshed
  
  Hi Veronica, I’m sure you would! I was amazed by the success of these veg and think they’re definitely one for a balcony or wide window sill if you can find a deep enough container.
on August 31, 2012 at 11:33 pm | Reply Gardeningbren

Rainbow mix has been the best carrot we have ever grown, hands down. Rainbow Chard also the best.

Your photos look fantastic. Really enjoying your blog!
- on September 2, 2012 at 1:48 pm | Reply outofmyshed
  
  Thanks Gardeningbren! This carrot mix was a revelation as not only did they look so good, but they were incredibly sweet too. I also grew Paris Market this year in window boxes, and these were greatfor such a confined space, but not quite matching the sweetness (or the multi-coloured glory) of the rainbow mix.
on September 3, 2012 at 7:35 pm | Reply Jono / Real Men Sow

That’s exactly how I feel about digging up potatoes! Reminds me of when I was a kid, and we used to do treasure hunts in the garden. Fun times. One of my favourite jobs on the plots, I suspect its a great one to do with kids as well.

I love those carrots too. I’ve grown parsnips in florist buckets for the last couple of years and they’ve done well. Not huge specimens, but nice and sweet, and better than the stumpy ones I get out of my stoney ground.
- on September 5, 2012 at 6:57 am | Reply outofmyshed
  
  Hi Jono, Think I might have been inspired by your parsnip success to have a go at carrots in pots. You’re right, they weren’t particularly large, but their sweetness was astounding.
on April 18, 2013 at 10:20 am | Reply Lettuce seedlings | Out of my shed

[…] for the space and time they occupied. I loved experimenting with ‘no dig’ potatoes and rainbow carrots in pots-they were a true delight to unearth-but it was the lettuces that kept me in dinners all summer […]