It’s been a couple of weeks but the potager has come up trumps again with something else for us to eat.  Can you tell what it is peaking out of the ground?

Yup, that’s right, the orange of life, carrots.

I was never a great lover of carrots when I was a kid.  Come to think of it I don’t think I liked vegetables much at all.  I have vague memories that I spent many an evening sat at the dinner table before I had forked another vege into my mouth until my mother was satisfied I wasn’t going to get scurvy or that my hair would grow curly or whatever old wives tales she used to spin on me.  What a sucker I was!

Anyway, I’m quite partial to a carrot now – cooked or raw – I’m not fussy.  Well, that’s not true.  I like my carrots to taste like carrots not the soapy nothingness you usually get in the supermarket.  If I have to buy them I admit I stretch out to the organic fridge and get myself something with flavour.

With the baby potager just a few steps from the back door it’s been nice just to pop out and harvest a few carrots.  Now these are not just any old carrots these are carrots tenderly planted by me.  Water, watched and worried over carrots in case that nasty carrot fly should decide to visit.

My only disclaimer on these carrots is that they are a compact kind.  Grown for bulk rather than length.  And they didn’t let me down. The carrot tops are certainly no indication of carrot size.

But as you probably know, it’s not size that matters!

Which is just as well as far as my carrots are concerned.

It’s a shame you can’t taste these carrots for yourself.  For they did taste like carrots.  Real carrots with that deep sweet flavour that reminds you of days gone by.  I’m pleased that the carrots have done their stuff as this vegetable growing lark has to pay it’s way.

We’ll be harvesting the last of the broccoli this weekend so I’m off to get myself some new carrot seed.  I think I’ll try for a lengthy variey next time and see how they fair.  In the meantime need to find myself some recipes for red cabbage as we are about to have more than we’ll know what to do with.  Oh, the joys of owning a potager, what a nice problem it is to have!