by Anne Fallon, Fulton County Master Gardener Extension Volunteer
This article is part of Garden Buzz, a series from Appen Media and the North Fulton Master Gardeners, where rotating columnists explore horticulture topics like herbs, insects, and wildlife conservation. Find all Garden Buzz articles here.
We love carrots in our house, but that wasn’t always the case. When my kids were little, I would sneak finely grated carrots into pasta sauce, soup and pancakes. No one knew — until I was caught orange-handed. Thankfully, I no longer need to sneak around with my grater.
Carrots are a great, easy snack when you need a good crunch packed with fiber, potassium, calcium and vitamins A, C and B-6. Carrots are also low in sodium and contain no cholesterol. Other health benefits can include improved bone health and lower blood sugar levels. Of course, carrots can be enjoyed raw, cooked and in sweet and savory recipes.
With few pests, carrots are easy to grow in Georgia, particularly when planted in raised garden beds. They come in varied sizes and many colors, including orange, yellow, red, purple, white and black, making them a nice cool-season crop. University of Georgia Cooperative Extension offers a complete list of varieties that thrive in our climate.
Once you have chosen your seeds, prepare the soil and test it weeks before you plant to address nutrient needs, including fertilizer and the addition of recommended minerals. Test the soil if it has not been tested in more than three years, or if you haven’t planted carrots in that spot before. Visit extension.uga.edu for soil testing instructions.
Carrot seeds are tiny and best sown directly when soil temperatures are 55 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit in late winter or early fall. Use the UGA Weather Network to find out when average temperatures fall into that range. Because the seeds are so small, you may want to plant the carrot seeds with radishes to help keep your row of carrots defined. As a bonus, you’ll have radishes to eat in 25 to 30 days.
Allowing a few carrot plants to bolt, or go to seed, is a nice treat for pollinators that visit the lovely flat-topped flower heads called umbels. An umbel is actually a cluster of flowers, with smaller clusters of flowers and even smaller clusters of flowers. The umbel has a beautiful, unusual shape, and a single umbel can produce hundreds of seeds.
Carrots are biennials, which means they produce viable seed in their second year. However, seed-saving gardeners may be disappointed to learn that UGA Extension does not recommend saving carrot seeds in Georgia and instead suggests sowing new carrot seeds each year. One reason is that carrots easily cross-pollinate with other crops and will not produce reliable seed like the parent carrot. What a great excuse to plant a purple carrot crop after your orange carrot crop.
When you plant your new carrot seeds, remember to rotate your crops. Do not plant them in the same spot every year or in a spot where plants of the same family were planted. Carrots are in the Apiaceae family, which also includes cilantro, dill, parsley, celery and parsnips. Because plants in the same family use the same nutrients from the soil, planting in the same spot will deplete your soil of these necessary nutrients, resulting in inferior produce. They are also susceptible to the same pests and diseases, which can build up in the soil and attack your new plants if you do not rotate your crops.
Here is an easy carrot salad recipe that offers endless opportunities for substitutions and additions:
Classic Carrot and Raisin Salad
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
Ingredients
- 4 cups shredded carrots (12 to 16 medium carrots, about 1 pound)
- 1 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup (or use more honey)
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Combine carrots and raisins in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, honey, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar and salt.
- Add the shredded carrots and raisins to the large bowl and mix until evenly coated.
Substitutions
Use Greek yogurt instead of the mayonnaise, or use half mayonnaise and half yogurt. You can also use freshly squeezed lemon juice instead of the apple cider vinegar, or use all honey or all maple syrup.
Additions
Try adding 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts, diced apples or diced pineapple. You can also try 1/3 cup of pomegranate seeds or 2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro. If substituting yogurt for mayonnaise, consider adding 1 or 2 tablespoons of chopped mint.
Don’t be afraid to try growing this nutrient-dense, reliable, cool-season crop at your home.
Learn More
- Vegetable Planting Chart (UGA Extension)
- Soil Testing for Home Lawns, Gardens and Wildlife Food Plots (UGA Extension)
- Georgia Homegrown Carrots (UGA Extension)
- UGA Weather Network
- Georgia Vegetable Garden Calendar (UGA Extension)
About the Author
Roswell Resident Anne Fallon caught the gardening bug while working for a garden magazine in New York City. At the time, she only had a single potted plant in an apartment in Hoboken, NJ. Twenty-nine years and countless potted plants and gardens later, Anne has been a UGA-trained Master Gardener since 2024. Anne is also an AVID tutor and the longtime manager of the Crabapple Middle School Learn and Serve Garden, where she loves teaching students how to grow vegetables that nourish their minds and bodies and serve the community.
