Carrot Rothild - Daucus carota

The Rothild Carrot is a highly productive variety that produces beautiful, cylindrical roots with a large diameter, juicy and fragrant. It is a carrot of very good quality, which stores very well. It is sown from April to July for harvest in October - November.

The carrot is a biennial herbaceous plant (cultivated annually), from the Apiaceae family, grown as a vegetable for its edible, fleshy, usually orange-colored roots called taproots. It is a root rich in carotene. It can generally reach 30 centimeters (12 inches) in height. The leaves are deeply divided and covered in hairs. The flowers are small and white. They are grouped in compound umbels. These umbels have 30 to 40 rays, usually incurved towards the top. The fruits are achenes.

The Carrot is not demanding on the nature of the soil, however the most beautiful roots will be harvested in a rich, light and deep soil. It is therefore necessary to prepare the soil well by deep digging in autumn, during which 2 to 3 kg of well decomposed manure or compost will be buried. All stones will be removed during this operation. Before sowing, the soil will be well crumbled and fertilized with a base fertilizer, then left as it is for about fifteen days. Sowing can then take place.

Harvest: during the season, harvest carrots as you need them. To extract the roots from the soil, use a fork spade, taking care not to damage the root. Injuries to the roots can cause rotting of the carrot during storage.
Yields can be estimated based on the type of cultivation and carrot. 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 ½ long variety, and up to 5 kg for a late crop of long carrots.

Storage: it can be done in the ground, in the cultivation area, but this immobilizes a growing space in the vegetable garden. In winter, in this case, protect the roots from frost with a good layer of dead leaves. Storage in a silo is an excellent long-term solution. In a frost-free and ventilated place, 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.

The gardener's little trick:
Sowing radishes and carrots on the same row and at the same time naturally separates the carrot seeds. Once harvested, the radish leaves space for the carrots to grow. It's thinning saved!
Sowing carrots near a row of leeks helps protect them both from the carrot fly and the leek moth.