Dateline: 16 February 2015
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| Carrots from my garden. Dug on a cold day in February. |
I have just posted the fourth and final installment of my "Four-Day Carrots" film series at YouTube. I never expected to make four movies about a bed of carrots in my garden, but the first video really took off. It now has more than 250,000 views.
This final film takes a look at the carrot bed here in February, with a thick layer of snow on the ground. I shoveled a path through the garden and dug some fresh carrots. The movie is only six minutes long. You can watch it at this link: Four-Day Carrots (Part 4)
Greetings Mr. Kimball. So good to "see you" again. I am excited to try your 4-day carrot plan this year. This past year was the first time I was successful growing carrots and harvested 36 pounds.
ReplyDeleteI must confess my first thought watching this was, why not store them in your basement or an insulated cold room/mud room. Because that is a lot of work going out there. I, for one, have done a tremendous amount of shoveling this year. Thank goodness it is light and fluffy.
Then...I saw how good they looked. They looked lots better than mine, which are showing signs of drying and getting soft.
So how do those carrots compare to ones stored in a clamp or maybe some in a basement? They look lots better. They look awesome.
And I wonder how they would have fared had there not been a bunch of snow? If the ground was bare with the temps we've been getting. Folks have been complaining up here about the amount of snow, but like Granny Miller wrote, “A Year of Snow, A Year of Plenty” the snow has some excellent protective qualities. I would rather snow than rain and definitely better than bare ground.
I like the idea of fresh, crisp sweet carrots. So the question is how do those left in their growing spot compare to those in a clamp. Can you do a comparison? I would be interested.
And I loved how you ended your video. I also laughed out loud and rewound it to show my husband when you waved "hello".
Great job and thanks for sharing your work and passion with us.
Respectfully,
Pam Baker
Herrick, he moment I saw your post on my Sub. page, I had to see it. WOW! it was Great! Your carrots are Outstanding! I think the clamp would be easier too, however there is another way too. Like you, I read every very old gardening book I can, and one I was impressed with was one that you dig your carrots, lay them on a bed of straw, cover them with leaves, and a cover, and then you just have to uncover and take some when you need them. Easy huh?
ReplyDeleteI love seeing everyone trying new methods like you did. It really helps us all. Wonderful Video, and since my children were all here, they were really impressed too. and believe me, that is really saying something. With people like you, my grown children are finally getting interested in gardening again. They were very small when we had a huge garden, and I can finally say that someone struck a nerve with them again about gardening. YOU did that for me. I have been praying for them to get the "Bug" again. Thank YOU!
Hi Pam,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on growing and harvesting your first crop of carrots!
Carrots keep firm and fresh in a crisper drawer of our fridge for around 4 weeks. So I packed as many as I could into the drawers in our fridge in the late fall, then refilled from my single leaf-bag clamp in December, and now I've refilled from the carrots harvested in this video (I actually harvested more carrots than are shown in the movie).
I've stored carrots in an earthen-mound clamp in the garden until spring and they were as good as right out of the garden. I would expect the same from the leaf-bag clamps, but will have to see. I intend to put carrots, beets, cabbage, and apples in separate leaf-bag clamps next year.
My experience keeping carrots for an extended period of time ,apart from a connection to the earth (either in a clamp or the ground), has not been all that good. They dry out and get kind of rubbery, which is not very appealing.
Even if we did not have a lot of snow over the bed, I'm sure the carrots would still be keeping well, as long as they are insulated and protected from direct rain infiltration. That has been my experience in the past.
Thanks for the comment. Here's hoping the worst of this winter's snowfall is now behind you.
Hi Sheila,
ReplyDeleteThat is great that your children are interested in gardening. I hope that my own, grown-up children will be more interested someday. They enjoy eating what I grow and have some interest in seeing what I do with my garden, but they don't seem to have much interest in the actual act of gardening. :-(
Your carrot storage method is a variation of clamp. It's worth a try. Every idea that sounds good is worth a try. Trying new ideas is a big part of the fun and adventure of gardening. Thanks for the comment.