Some have asked why we didn't grow carrots over the summer. There are two main reasons. The first is that carrots don't do too well sharing their beds with weeds, and during summer we don't have the time to keepup with the laborious hand weeding that is required to keep carrot beds clean - remember, herbicides are not an option for us...

But the main reason is that summer carrots don't tast too good - they have a strong flavour. and are not very sweet. But winter carrots - yum! But why?

Plants have been given physiological mechanisms to defend themselves against the threat of predators or other assaults, including cold weather! When the weather gets cold gets cold, and especially after a frost, carrots convert some of their starch into sugars. This increases the sugar content in the cells, which lowers the cell's freezing point, and though the cell might have icy cold water in them, that water won't turn into ice crystals that can cause the cells to rupture and kill the plant. 

But that extra sugar makes all the difference to the taste! The carrot's amazing defense mechanism gives us sweet and delicious carrots all winter long! You can look forward to the carrots getting tastier as the winter gets colder, and because cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli have the same mechanism, they will get tastier also!