Carrot Paris Market Atlas - Daucus carota

The Paris Market Atla Carrot is a variety of small, round carrot, about the size of a golf ball. Its bright orange root is sweet and crunchy. Ideal for shallow soils and containers, it can be eaten raw as a snack or lightly steamed. Sow indoors from February to April and then transplant outdoors until August. Harvest from June to late November.

The carrot is a biennial herbaceous plant, grown as an annual, belonging to the Apiaceae family. It is cultivated for its edible, fleshy, usually orange taproots. Carrots are rich in carotene. They can typically reach a height of 30 cm (12in). Carrots are not very demanding in terms of soil type. However, the best roots will be harvested from a rich, light, and deep soil. Therefore, it is advisable to prepare the soil by deeply digging it in autumn and incorporating 2 to 3 kg of well-decomposed manure or compost. All stones should be removed during this operation. Before sowing, the soil should be well crumbled and fertilized with a base fertilizer, then left as it is for about two weeks. Sowing can then take place.

Harvest: during the season, harvest carrots as needed. To extract the roots from the soil, use a fork or a spading fork, taking care not to damage the root. Injuries to the roots may cause the carrot to rot during storage.
Yields can be estimated based on the type of cultivation and carrot variety. For reference, plan for between 1 and 1.5 kg/m² for an early crop; about 3 kg/m² for a mid-season crop of a half-long variety, and up to 5 kg for a late crop of long carrots.

Storage: carrots can be stored in the ground, on the site of cultivation, but this ties up a growing space in the vegetable garden. In winter, in this case, the roots must be protected from frost by a thick layer of dead leaves. Indoor storage is an excellent long-term solution. In a frost-free and well-ventilated area, cut the foliage at the collar and place the roots next to each other on a bed of moist sand. Cover them with a 2 cm (1in) layer of sand and place the next row on top.

Gardening tips: 
Sowing radishes and carrots on the same row and at the same time naturally separates the carrot seeds. Once the radishes are harvested, it leaves space for the carrots to grow. It's a win-win thinning technique! 
Sowing carrots near a row of leeks helps protect both crops from carrot fly and leek moth.