Every year we plant carrots in our garden, but the roots never grow as long as we'd like; mostly because our beds aren't deep enough. You've heard me talk about Behrens Metalware before (you can read more about my work with Behrens here and here), and I thought I'd try out their 20 gallon galvanized steel trash can to grow our carrots in.
It's weather resistant and rodent proof, while also being tall enough to ward off things like snails and slugs. Carrots are prone to snails/slugs and we've learned this the hard way in the past.
Since we are in Zone 7, we can grow carrots in the spring and the fall. We've planted them during both seasons and I honestly prefer growing them in the spring. They tend to be sweeter and just overall grow better. I planted our carrots in early June before it got too hot. I do feel like our scorcher of a summer slowed them down a bit, but they've done so well being grown by themselves in Behren's trash can.
When it comes to watering the carrots and the rest of our garden, during the heat of the summer we use a pump system. We either have sprinklers going or we use Behren's steel watering cans. They hold a ton up to two gallons of water and have the perfect spout.
Last week I went to check on the carrots, and they are almost all ready to harvest! I'm going for gourmet baby rainbow carrots and this Calliope blend is one of my favorites. I love the variety of colors: red, orange, white, purple and yellow. They are delicious roasted with other vegetables on top of a bowl of couscous, or eaten raw with some dressed up hummus. You know when the carrots are almost ready to harvest when you can see the tops peaking out of the soil.
When I pull all of the carrots out next month, we are going to try growing garlic in Behren's Trash Can. We grow garlic every year and I think their Trash Can will work out perfectly.
