Carrots are a root vegetable, which contains a whole pharmacy of useful substances. Here and carotene, and other vitamins, trace elements that contribute to maintaining he alth. Carrots are indispensable for proper nutrition. It can be grown at home. How best to do it, which varieties to choose?
Properties of carrots
Carrot is a plant from the umbrella family.
Her life span is two years. For the first carrot from a seed forms a root crop, which we are used to eating. In the second year, it releases an arrow, which is crowned with a flower in the shape of an umbrella. This is where the seeds are formed. The next year they can be sown in the ground again.
Carrots contain many useful substances. It is especially valued for carotene (vitamin A), which in its composition is more than seventy percent. It is he who paints the root crop in orange. This is more than in other vegetables or fruits (except sea buckthorn). There is also a wide range of vitamins. Its fiber, mineral s alts, sugar, essential oil are useful.
Carrotis a unique product. It does not lose its useful properties during processing. To do this, she only needs to interact with fat, vegetable or animal origin.
In addition, all valuable substances are preserved during winter storage.
The range of applications is very wide. Many delicious and he althy dishes are prepared using carrots. Used in diet food.
Has a positive effect on vision. Improves immunity, normalizes the functioning of the digestive system. Carrots are indispensable in baby food.
Treats beriberi, anemia, bronchitis, diseases of the heart, kidneys, organs of the genitourinary system.
It is very good for teeth, especially at a young age. Indeed, for their normal development, it is necessary to chew solid foods. Then the bite is formed correctly.
Elevated parts of the plant are also useful. Pureed carrots have long been used to treat burns, various wounds, and frostbite. Essential oils obtained from carrot seeds are used in perfumery.
Harm carrots
Not that it shouldn't be used at all. You just need to limit the use of this product to patients with peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum, prone to diarrhea.
Carrots are useful, but you should not abuse them. After all, the body can not cope with the processing of carotene. Then he will act on the skin. The palms, feet will turn yellow, take on a carrot shade.
May stain orange teeth.
Chantane Carrot
Of course, not all varietiescarrots have an equal amount of nutrients and the same taste.
You don't have to take a bite to appreciate them. It is enough to look at the root crop on the cut. The core should be small (there are varieties in which it is completely absent). The brighter and richer the color of the carrot, the tastier it is. The shape is rounded, a reasonable ratio of length and width. Shantane carrots fully comply with all these standards.
Chantane variety
It has about two dozen varieties of different ripening dates.
- Chantane Red Credd is the most popular variety of this type. Valued for its high palatability.
- Chantane variety 2461 is intended for winter sowing.
- Chantane Komet - medium early, does not break when harvested, resistant to scab.
- Victoria is a super early hybrid of the Shantane variety type. Very early (80-85 days). The color is brighter than other varieties.
- Hybrid Ablaco F1 - suitable for making carrot juice.
Chantane Royal Carrot
Mid-season variety.
Mass ripening occurs 100-110 days after germination. The color of all parts is rich orange. The length of the root crop is about 15 cm, the diameter of each is 5 cm. Weight 200 g. The shape is conical, the tip is blunt. Tops are vertical. This makes it easier to care for and harvest. The fruits are even, do not have lateral roots.
Juicy, sweet. Shantane Royal carrots can be used both fresh immediately after harvest and in products.processing. Well and long stored in the winter. Has good keeping quality. The variety is transportable.
Kuroda Shantane Carrot
Those who sell young carrots (per bunch) or like to crunch young fruits in the summer will like Kuroda Shantane carrots. This is an early variety. Already two months after the emergence of seedlings, or even earlier, root crops can be harvested for sale. And after three, 70% of the total crop is already ready. Selling it is easy, because the roots have an attractive appearance. Length 20 cm, bright orange color, small core. Unpretentious in cultivation. Feels good even on heavy soils. Tolerates heat, hardly shoots, disease resistant.
Can be sown in summer. If this is done at the end of July, the fruits are personally stored until May.
Used both fresh and processed.
Growing carrots
Growing carrots at home requires attention and some effort. First you need to prepare the site.
It should be free of perennial weeds. They are selected with a shovel, fork or flat cutter. After all, shoots remain very small and tender for a long time. Therefore, it is difficult to deal with strong weed sprouts without damaging the carrots.
Carrots are grown in the garden where cabbage, onions, potatoes, cucumbers grew before. Do not plant after parsley, dill, parsnips.
It is better to sow early, at a soil temperature of 8 degrees Celsius, so that the soil does not dry out. Then the shoots will be friendly. But first you need to prepare varieties of carrot seeds. They are soaked for a day in water, then dried untilstate when they no longer stick together, but still wet. In order to facilitate the sowing process, the seeds are mixed with sand after soaking. In this state, the wet mixture can be left to germinate.
This process is accelerated if the seeds are first placed for several days on a cloth impregnated with a growth stimulator (for example, succinic acid, sodium humate). Sow to a depth of 1 cm, always in moist soil. If it is dry, then you can sow under watering. To do this, the finished rows are watered from a watering can. Waiting for the water to soak in. Once again loosen the soil so that it becomes crumbly, and sow the seeds. The distance between the rows is 20 cm. Shoots will appear in two to three weeks, after treatment with a growth stimulator - in a week.
For winter storage, it is better to sow from mid-April to the end of May.
Chantane Carrots will not grow well in the shade. Therefore, you need to make sure that the crops are well lit by the sun. Be sure to thin out the crops. Each carrot must be provided with a place for nutrition and air passage. Otherwise, it will be small. Thin out carrots at the stage of two true leaves. The distance between plants is 4 cm. After weeding, water the remaining carrots, compact the soil around the plants. And plucked plants need to be removed, as their smell attracts a carrot fly.
Growing carrots at home allows you to determine the planting site yourself. To prevent this pest from settling on crops, you need to plant an onion nearby, which repels this insect. And herselfcarrots should not be sown in one place before three or four years. If you do this more often, then the quality of products deteriorates and the risk of diseases and damage by aphids, nematodes, and carrot flies increases.
Sowing for the winter
Chantane carrot, as a biennial plant, is not afraid of frost. Therefore, it can be sown in the fall. But you need to do this before frost, so that the seeds do not germinate. Seeding rate should be increased by 25%.
The soil is pre-fertilized with humus, ash, superphosphate. In winter, it is advisable to apply an additional layer of snow to the place where carrots are sown. This will help moisturize the area.
Podzimny sowing allows you to get young carrots much earlier, for two or three weeks. But it will not be stored for a long time if the variety is ordinary, and not a hybrid.
Crop fertilization
Not suitable for carrots are the usual fertilizers suitable for plants with terrestrial fruits. After all, root crops, having absorbed everything that got into the soil with them, will bring it to our table. It is best to prepare a mixture of superphosphate with legumes, green manure, beet tops. All this is mixed, poured with water and put on fermentation.
If the soil in the area where you are going to sow carrots is acidic, then in the fall you need to add chalk or lime to it.
Spring add urea, wood ash. And you can sow Shantane carrots.
Consumer Reviews
Almost all of them note the excellent taste that Shantane carrots have.
Indicate that much more juice is obtained from it than from the samequantity of the variety Nantes. Users like that Shantane carrots keep well and do not lose their taste.
