Grow, harvest & cook | carrots

(plus tips to avoid growing wonky orange alien things)

---

CARROTS

(Daucus carota)

The humble carrot: a stalwart member of every veggie patch and, look, I know you can buy them in 5kg bags for like 99c from the shops but trust me, they’re SO much better when you grow them yourself! If you have never tasted a homegrown carrot it might be hard to imagine just how intensely carrot-y and delicious a carrot can be. The only way to find out: grow some!

---

Note: This growing guide is only available to members of the Wild Garden club. Want to join the club? Click the button below and upgrade your subscription to ‘Wild Garden Club member’ to get instant access to the full archive of recipes, videos and garden guides.

---

Cheat sheet

When to sow: year round in mild climates

Position: full sun

Sow: direct (ideally in pots or raised beds with potting mix)

Depth: 0.5cm

Spacing: 10-15cm rows

Plants per person: 10-20

Time to harvest: 8-10 weeks

Grow in pots: 30cm deep, or bigger

Companion plants: beans, chives, coriander, lettuce, onion, leeks, dill, peas, radish, tomato

---

How to grow

The first thing to know about carrots is that they must be sown direct. The reason many gardeners end up with funky shaped carrots is that the carrots were transplanted as seedlings. It is almost impossible to transplant a carrot seedling without knocking its tiny tap root - this is the root that will develop into the mature carrot and knocking it even slightly will result in an oddly shaped carrot.