Jack's Carrots

Carrots are always one of the most fun vegetables for kids to grow themselves. Here's proof of that from Cheri, our Renee's Garden Accounting Manager, who describes how her young son Jack grew his own this season:

Last year my 5 year old son Jack fell in love with the purple carrots (and many of the other vegetables) that were tested in the Renee’s Garden trial gardens. So, this summer he decided to grow his own carrots--not only the purple ones he loves so much, but also the yellow and orange carrots from Renee’s Sunshine Mix and even the adorable little Round Romeo carrots. Unfortunately we planted the Mini Jack pumpkins (he had to plant those of course!) too close to the carrots and we lost the Round Romeos under the pumpkin plants. However, Jack had great success with the other three varieties and they have made him into a confirmed vegetable lover.

The process started in early June with Jack and his 2 year old sister, Jenni, preparing the raised bed in our front yard. They weeded the bed and then raked in the new soil. Jack then carefully scattered the carrot seeds in rows. I then thinned out the carrot seedlings a couple times during the summer: Jack wanted nothing to do with “throwing away” his yummy carrot plants! After checking them constantly and excitedly throughout the summer, Jack finally began the best part: harvesting his carrots in late August (unusually cool weather and a lack of warm sunshine lengthened the growing period).

Jack has since pulled and enjoyed a couple of full-grown carrots every few days. The longer they’re in the ground, the bigger and sweeter they’ve become. He has harvested some truly amazing carrots. One was nearly as tall as he was from the tips of the greens to the bottom of the carrot! He had another that looked as if it was tie-died purple and orange.

Jack has had so much fun sharing his crop with the neighbor kids (who have watched the progress all summer) and showing the carrots off to his friends at school. While he says all the carrots are “super yummy”, his favorites are the purple ones. He loves to show the other kids how good they are because none of them had never seen a purple carrot before. Once Jack has harvested the last of the carrots, he’s going to start all over again and plant a fall crop of the same varieties. This time the pumpkin plants won’t interfere with the Round Romeos!