Topic: I've just Pulled

[Ragged Robin]

.......These up for tonight's supper....



.......... and for Littl'uns lunches
                 ............... not bad for Jan?.......

[ina]

Not bad? Not bad? Freaking Fracking Fa-bu-lous!

[tim]

Must learn to speak Dutch - V expressive!!

Everything has gone from here - only a few lettuce left. Last leeks yesterday - forgot to sow late ones! Sprouting will be some time yet. V jealous RR - is that rocket amongst them? Or dandelions!! = Tim

[The gardener]

and not a sign of 'carrot fly'  .............bootiful!!

Mines are stored under some old compost in the greenhouse.

[Gardengirl]

Oh I'm so envious Robin ::)  Haven't got a lottie.  Tried growing some carrots in a very large pot last summer but without much success :(  

[Tenuse]

They are glowing orange!

what wonderful carrots

Ten x

[Piglet]

Wish I could get carrot seed to germinate but if it ever does, hope they come out like yours !

Excellent crop.

Piglet.

[Ragged Robin]

I wish I could put this down to skill and knowledge, but its purely a case of gardeners luck.

I cant even remember what variety I planted, I hope I might find the seed packet at the back of the shed.

Haven't got a lottie just a veggie plot, don't usually have probs with carrots; got Favor to try this year, any opinions?

Parsnips are my downfall, can never get them to germinate.

In the meantime, I will momentarily bask in the reflected orange of my carrots!!!!

[The gardener]

Hi RR
You say;  Parsnips are my downfall, can never get them to germinate.

Parsnips are notoriously bad for germinating, however saying that  I find them not too difficult now.

I have tried a couple of ways with a fair ammount of success.

1) I always buy new seed each year.

2) I sow it relatively thickly in rows then thin out.

Dependant on germination , the amount of thinning can be variable.

At least this way I get fairly full rows as opposed to 'gappy' ones.

3) Another way is to 'chit' the seed indoors prior to planting outdoors.

Here I spread the seed on damp kitchen towel (or similar) and leave them open to the light on the greenhouse bench/shelf.

Once germinated I place them in pots or cell trays and grow on until 2 real leaves appear (not the seed leaves) then I plant them out.

Word of warning dont let them become pot bound. What happens if you do is you send the tap root off at a tangent and you wont get any length on your parsnips.

ps
as with my carrots I first  form a 'vee' trench with my spade and fill with old compost (new if you want) then sow my seeds in this.

[budgiebreeder]

I am like you RR no trouble with carrots but its not due to my gardening skills.I could almost smell them.My Grandchildren love to pick the carrots  run them under the tap then crunch into them.

[rdak]

merv recommended the damp kitchen towel method for parsnips- then plant out the piece of towel covered lightly with some fine compost. Am definately going to try this.

I read somewhere else about sowing grass seed on tea bags to plant out into holes in the lawn- made me wonder whether this could be used for carrots as well. You'd need lots of used teabags, but that wouldn't be a problem in my house! Does anyone know if tea contains good nutrients....and acid or alkaline? And if the carrots did grow through the tea bag, it might also provide a handy way of keeping the carrot flys away by putting drops of Jeyes or Olbas on the tea bag...hmm, just ideas!

[Gardengirl]

An elderly neighbour of mine always swears by putting teabags round her Camelias so they must have some sort of acid content. I must say her Camelias are absolutely beautiful so it must be doing some good :D

[eileen]

WOW and double WOW  :o :o It looks as though you've rubbed them in baby oil RR!! What ORANGE carrots - never seen the like! Pity we can't  have a taste.  ;)

[budgiebreeder]

Use the old brewing in the pot method myself,but i'm always wondering where to empty the dregs next so thats my next round my camelia i'll let you know if it works.(sorry nothing to do with carrots we do seem to deviate)

[flowerofshona]

One of the old guys up our lottie told me to put fresh warm compost into the drill before sowing parsnips and cover with compost to, have had no trouble with them since and you can see where they come up easy to  ;)