The Humble Carrot

As part of our suburban gardening experiment, we planted carrots in our meter square raised bed last October. This carrot, whose root was about the size of my pinkie toe plus another skinny two inches, was our first edible harvest after three months of watering. There are now a dozen left to dominate the allotted space between spinach plants after carefully thinning the sprouts. Forty were weeded out with scarcely a thread of root, now composted. These are not good statistics for carrot farming in my backyard! According to my favorite brand of carrot juice, of which I consume half a gallon weekly, it takes nine good-sized carrots to make 8 oz. of juice. At this rate, we might just squeak out 4 oz. or so in another three months. But instead, I’ll savor them raw and whole, for this is the sweetest carrot I’ve ever eaten.