6 helpful pointers for growing sweet and crunchy carrots

There is something satisfying about pulling a perfect carrot out of the garden. Here are six pointers for growing your own well-formed and sweet-tasting crop.

• First, avoid high-nitrogen fertilizer, which can lead to coarse, hairy roots that are devoid of flavour.
• Second, time planting so the roots will mature in cool soil. Get a prompt start in spring, sowing seeds when apples are in bloom.
• Plant carrots again in late summer for harvest in the fall.

To increase your carrot harvest, mix the seeds with unused ground coffee before sowing.

• Not only does the extra bulk make the tiny seeds easier to sow, but the coffee aroma may repel root maggots and other pests.
• As a bonus, the coffee will help add nutrients to the soil as it decomposes around the plants.

You might also like to add a few radish seeds to the mix before sowing.

• The radishes will be up in a few days to mark the rows. When you pull them, you'll thin the carrot row and cultivate the soil at the same time.

Sow seeds in a row or a band as thinly as possible — no more than three seeds per 25 millimetres. Planting in rows is preferable, since it makes weeding easier.

• Tamp seeds in with the back of a rake to bury them 6 to 12 millimetres deep.
• A few weeks later, thin the seedlings, leaving the strongest plant every five centimetres in the row for small varieties.
• Thin larger varieties to eight centimetres apart.

Follow this rule when choosing varieties: the heavier the soil, the shorter the carrot should be.

• Varieties sold as either half-long or baby types are preferable to long, slim carrots for heavy clay soil.
• In extremely heavy soil, plant round varieties, which won't have to penetrate as deeply. Or you can plant carrots in raised beds.
• Locate the beds in full sun except in the hottest climates, where a little shade and extra watering are advisable.

In warmer areas, you can cut off carrot tops in late fall, cover the bed with thick, organic mulch or bales of straw or hay, and dig carrots as you need them through most of the winter.

Most carrots are orange, and deep-orange carrots usually contain the most vitamin A.

• However, there are beautiful yellow, red, and purple carrots, too, such as 'Purple Haze,' an All America Selections award winner with purple skin.
• All carrots with unusual skin colours have orange flesh.