Carrot

Carrots go in as seed and stay put: succession sowings from April through July, pulled from July to November. The fall pulls, sweetened by cold, are the crop's whole argument.

Growing

Direct sow from mid April onward, a fresh row every few weeks through July; that July sowing becomes the sweet fall crop. They demand loose, rock-free soil a foot down or the roots fork, which is exactly what the deep 10 to 15 gallon bags are for. Sow shallow and keep the surface damp through the slow two-week germination (a board over the row helps), then thin ruthlessly to an inch or two. Skip fresh manure and heavy nitrogen, which grow hairy, forked roots. Mulch the last rows deeply and keep pulling into November.

Varieties

Napoli and Yaya are the sweet early pulls; Bolero holds for fall and storage; Danvers 126 copes when the soil is less than perfect.

Pests

Carrot rust fly maggots tunnel rusty scribbles through the roots, but the fly is a weak, low flier; bags up off the ground and row cover over spring sowings mostly defeat it. Wireworms sometimes drill fall roots in beds converted from lawn; the damage is cosmetic, so carve around it.

In the kitchen

Summer pulls get eaten raw at the sink. Fall carrots roast whole and anchor soup, and the November ones out of the mulch taste like a different, better vegetable.