Last night was another cold night and this weekend's forecast is even colder so it is time to harvest our carrots. We have been eating them fresh for the last 2 months out of the garden. With each light frost (less than 25 degrees F) the taste of the carrots gets sweeter and sweeter so that is why we keep them in the garden as long on we can. Last year we were able to keep them in the garden all year. When the temperature dropped below 25 we simple covered the carrots with a black plastic and they made it all winter!
We started off digging using of new broad fork. A few weeks ago we built one and you can see the video here. https://steemit.com/homesteading/@shalomacres/diy-broad-fork
I must admit using the broad fork made quick work of digging based on the width compared to a shovel. We placed them into milk crates and brought them into the house for further processing.
Next we took off the tops, cleaned them in a bucket, and started to clean them further by removing the skins.
Then we simply cut them into slices we froze on cookie sheets.
Finally, we cut some into strips for snacks around the house, gave some to our neighbors, and put the rest in the refrigerator for salads and soups. In total we harvested just over 50 lbs of carrots. We would typically can some of these but we still have plenty of jars from last fall.
Our family typically plants the Oxford variety for two reasons: flavor and depth of soil required. Last year we planted some of them back from the seeds we harvested. This is all part of being self sufficient on our little homestead.
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