Carrots, A Report from the Raincatcher’s Garden

Carrots are not the easiest thing to grow in our part of the world. Our past efforts resulted in lower yields than we had hoped. 

This year we tried something different. We placed burlap over the area we had just planted and sprinkled it once a day to keep it moist until the seeds had germinated. 

We usually water other seeds by hand once a day until they germinate but that didn’t satisfy the carrots. Soaking the burlap daily provides the continuous moisture they need for a good germination rate. 

There was a hard freeze during the germination period.  We left the burlap in place and covered the area with frost cloth.  

We were concerned that the seedlings would stick to the burlap when we removed it but that was not a problem. 

The germination rate was excellent and after a few weeks we had many delicious carrots to share with the NDSM food pantry and visiting preschoolers.  Next year we will confidently devote more space to carrots using this technique. 

Harvesting, photo by Ruth Klein

Prepping for NDSM food pantry, photo by Beverly

Beverly Allen, Dallas County Master Gardener Class of 2018