Berlicum 2

This is a mid-late variety vigorous and productive.
The plant produces long, cylindrical, crunchy root with a bright orange colour. Carrots are best sown direct in the soil as they do not transplant well. Choose an open, sunny space in your veggie patch. Never add fresh manure when sowing carrots as it will cause them to fork, and encourage leafy growth (rather than root growth, which is what you’re really after!). You can however add well rotted manure the previous autumn to the area where you will grow carrots. Dig the bed well during the autumn to make sure there is at least a foot of good friable soil – compacted soil equals stunted carrots. Apply a general purpose organic fertiliser (such as chicken manure pellets) about two weeks before sowing.
Carrot seeds are tiny so this is one situation where you will really need to get the seed bed to a “fine tilth” – if you don’t, the seeds can drop down in between the clumps of soil and they will then be too deep to germinate. From mid April (or March under a cloche), sow thinly at 1cm deep in rows 15-20cm apart. Keep the seed bed moist to encourage germination. Carrots are slow to germinate so don’t be alarmed if nothing seems to be happening! It could take 2-3 weeks. Thin to about 5cm when the seedlings are large enough to handle. Remove weeds carefully. Sow maincrop for storage in June. You can also sow in August for a tender winter crop, covering them with cloches after October. Carrots dislike competition from weeds so keep the bed weed free – use a hoe along the rows and hand-weed around the carrots. Once the plants get established the leaves provide a thick canopy which will keep weeds away. Carrots don’t need a lot of watering, but in very dry weather water every two to three weeks. Baby carrots will be ready about 7 weeks after sowing, and you can leave the rest behind to grow more (maincrop varieties take about 11 weeks). Lift by hand, or ease out with a fork carefully if ground is hard. Lift carrots rather than leaving them in the ground to grow too large – they are not too tasty when very big. Lift maincrop carrots in October and store in boxes of sand – they can be left in the soil if growth has stopped but they will be affected by frost. Before storing remove the foliage, leaving a 5cm stump on the carrot.