Wednesday wasn't too bad a day. It was dry, cloudy and cold with the temperature only making it up to 5.8°C.
We’d run out of fresh vegetables at home so a trip down to the plot was required. With freezing temperatures predicted for the weekend I couldn't put off giving our carrots a bit of cold weather protection. We've gone to a fair amount of effort to produce this year’s crop so loosing what we have left to frost damage would be very disappointing. I stopped of at the local farm on my way to the plot to pick up a couple of bales of straw.
The carrot tops haven’t been knocked back by any of the cold weather to date so I’m assuming the carrots underneath are fine. Before covering them with straw I though it would make sense to dig a few roots.
The ground was wet and claggy but after a wash under the tap these Early Nantes looked in pretty good condition and certainly proved that it was certainly worthwhile providing them with a little protection to make them last as long as possible.
Hopefully with almost a bale of straw spread around the roots they’ll manage to get through all that winter has to offer keeping us supplied with fresh carrots into the new year. I did have a little straw left and this went round a few Boltardy beetroots that are still in the ground.
Next spring the straw will either be dug in or used on the compost heap.
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Your carrots look great. I'm thinking about investing in some enviromesh for next year, I definitely can't grow carrots in the ground without it as it seems the root fly knows exactly where our allotment site is. Any recommendations on where to buy from?
ReplyDeleteHi Jo, WE get our enviromesh from either
DeleteGardening Naturally or Harrod Horticultural as they offer larger width sizes. You need to bear in mind that the carrot tops grow quite high and so need some growing space.
Thanks, Sue, I'll check those out.
DeleteAre you going to anchor that straw down or pen it in, or are you expecting a calm winter?
ReplyDeleteNice carrots, and lots of them!
I'm expecting a calm winter!!!
DeleteI've left the straw without any covering or fastening before and most of it's stayed in place through winter. Like all gardening though things that work well one year don't always work another year. Fingers crossed.
Your carrots look amazing I've only just started my plot so no veg yet
ReplyDelete