The Carrot

Presentation 

 The carrot is a biennial plant of the family Apiaceae. It is cultivated for its root orange edible including the pulpit is one of the most popular in the kitchen. In the wild, the ancestor of the carrot of the garden is present throughout Europe, Central and West Asia and North Africa. There are about 22 subspecies and varieties.

The carrot of the garden, as we know it today, produces its edible part the first year and makes flowers the second. No need to let go to seed, she would return quickly to its wild state which is edible but too bitter and fibrous to be eaten.

In the cores of the garden, there are two varieties: carrot called "Eastern" and the carrot called "West".The carot of the East has been domesticated in the tenth century and maybe even earlier in Central Asia. The carot of East is still today are often purple or yellow. The carot of the West was created from natural selection in the seventeenth century in Holland. This is the first carot fleshy, called the Long Orange. It is that which is found everywhere on the shelves of our supermarkets. There are also white carrots fodder. Old varieties now in danger of extinction are also colored red, purple or yellow. There are many varieties of carrots from the garden that grow more or less early, which allows them to grow in all regions.

The planting and cultivation of carrots

Carrot loves deep well loosened soil, fresh and rich in organic matter. The soil should be well weeded. Compost amendment is desirable. A sandy soil is ideal. Carrots prefer sun or partial shade.
Sow in the ground as soon as danger of frost is past. It is usual to sow in rows spaced 20cm apart. The seeds of carrots are very small, it is not always easy to sow. One technique is to mix the seeds with sand. It becomes easier to sow has stolen the mixture into a zone reserved. Whatever the technique used, it must then cover the seed with a little soil, tamp the earth and wait ... and wait.
It takes about a 15aine of days before seeing the first plants appear.

PS:
There are seeds sold in ribbon, evenly spaced. Then simply place the ribbon at the bottom of a trench and cover it, like for ordinary seeds.

Care of young plantsWith a little practice, you will easily recognize the seedlings as they appear coming to. At this stage, you should "clarify" your seedlings. That is to say leave about 8cm between each seedling in order to leave sufficient space to develop for your carrots. If you don't do it, your carrots will be small, ugly and rickety (yuck)
During his growth, the carrot require much light and regular watering to keep the soil cool and moist. We can just turn the soil at the base of the plant to aerate the soil and suppress weeds. We can also mulch between rows to prevent weeds to grow and keep the soil moist.Carrots are harvested 3-4 months after sowing, using a spade. Carrots must be keep well inside silos filled with sand.
But the best thing to do is to eat them fresh.
 
Friends of the carrot
Onions, leeks, cilantro, tarragon, sage and rosemary keeps away the carrot fly, an insect whose larvae fond of carrots.

 
Some popular tricks:

•     To repel carrot flies, lay the ground onion peelings after sowing.
•     Mix the seeds of radish and carrot, when you harvest the radishes, carrots grow .--> radishes growing much faster, once harvested they therefore leave room for baby carrots, this reduces the thinning.

Medicinal Properties 
Besides antioxidants, carotene and vitamins it contains, the carrot has long enjoyed a legendary efficiency on human vision. The pulp is used against burns.