Organic Carrot Seeds

Carrots from the garden taste so much better than store-bought - and we love the weird and wonderful shapes that emerge from the soil! This vegetable is best grown from seed, as Carrot seedlings don't like their roots disturbed once they get started.  

Urban Bounty sells two types of Carrot seed:

• Royal Chantenay - a long, sweet, dark orange carrot
• Scarlet Nantes - a small orange snacking carrot that is perfect for lunchboxes.  

Each packet of carrot seeds contains approximately 120 seeds - plenty to fill lots of lunchboxes!

About Carrots 

Legend has it that carrots were originally purple, yellow or white but Dutch farmers cultivated orange varieties in the 17th century to honour King William of Orange.  

Carrots are the ideal vegetable to grow in a small city garden because they don't take up too much space.  They look picture perfect in a cottage garden and can also be grown in a pot if it is sufficiently deep.  Carrots also happen to be idea for coastal areas with sandy soil, as they need loose, free draining soil that isn't nitrogen-heavy. 

Royal Chantenay carrots are 12 - 15cm long and amazingly sweet.  A carrot you can count on!  Scarlet Nantes are a smaller, almost coreless carrot with blunt ends.  

Culinary Uses for Carrots 

What isn't to love about carrots?  These delicious morsels have long been a staple of European cuisine.  The root of this plant can be eaten raw as a lunch box snack, in a salad or as a crudité with hummus. (The baby ones are particularly crunchy and sweet!)  If you haven't eaten all of your crop at baby-stage, roast the larger ones, or use them in a casserole, curry or soup.  Our family favourite is sautéed carrots with garlic, olive oil, honey and white wine vinegar.  

Growing Conditions - Carrots 

Carrots require a little tender love and care.  The trick to growing good carrots, is to plant them in extremely loose, neutral free-draining sandy loam that isn't too heavy on nitrogen.  (If your soil is rich and heavy, you might end up with some amusing shapes, but they will still taste the same!)  As your seedlings grow, thin them out to reduce competition for space.  

Carrots like a sunny spot but can cope with part shade.  They like just enough water to keep the soil moist.  (Take care not to overwater, as waterlogged soil can cause your carrots to rot.) Carrots are frost and wind hardy.  

Companion plant Carrots with Lettuce, Chives, Leeks, Onions, Shallots, Rosemary, Sage, Beans or Nigella. Don't plant near Anise Hyssop, Dill or Parsnip. 

Growing instructions - Carrots

• Direct sow: Early spring - early autumn
• Spacing: Sow thickly in rows of 35 cm apart.  Thin to 6 - 8 cm
  
• Sowing depth: 7 mm
• Germination: 6 - 10 days
• Water regularly - the soil should be moist but not soggy.
• Thin once the seedlings have reached 5 cm high
• Harvest: 55 days