Friday 27 September 2013

Designer Carrots


Up came the carrots,


.... and wow what a surprise ....mostly because of the state in which they came out of the earth. But it was not the earth stuck fast to them in all their nooks and crannies and holes and missing bits, no, it was the unruly state of their diverse shapes which was a surprise, with bits of tagged on growths in abundance along their bent and gnarled bodies. 

But then, they  had suffered the threat of drowning because of too much rain. They had suffered the threat of dehydration because of too much sun. And then there was the stomping of chicken feet on their heads as the harvest of coriander seeds next door came along. Despite it all, they had kept going.

But I am ashamed to say that I was a little disappointed at the state of them, although perhaps I should have lifted them out of the ground sooner than what I did, but then I have spent huge chunks of time in the kitchen of late, and time had ran away with me. Ah the joys of harvest time. 

I must admit that getting these carrots into this state of being....


....was not the joy that perhaps it should have been.

For one, it was a mucky and muddy task....


...not that I minded, after all one should expect earth to be attached to any vegetable coming out of the ground, but it was the amount of carrot to be donated to the pigs which was a surprise....


....because to get the carrots into a long slick shape similar to those I was used to purchasing from the supermarket I had to cut a hell of a lot of carrot away. And even then they were not the pretty things that I was used to....


...and a thought came into my head. How on earth do those supermarket carrots all look the same. What do they do to them that makes them similar to each other. Where are the bendy bits, the gnarled lumps, the holes, the individuality. What has happened to them along the way. They have been designed, that's what they have been. They have been cloned. 

And so ends another learning curve. I am sorry that I was miserable about my carrots, and that I was drenched in feelings of it not being a worthwhile crop. And I am sorry that I was less than generous to them in thought as I chopped and carved my way into their interiors. After all, they had given their best so I should give them mine. A lesson, I think, to take into other areas of my life, not that I shall be chopping or carving anyone or anything up,
it is just that perhaps one should look beneath the surface to see the good sometimes.

And the carrots tasted fantastic!

11 comments:

Jean said...

You hit the nail (or carrot) on the head there, Vera!
They might not look pretty but they taste good. Supermarket carrots are the opposite.
Goodness only knows what they do to them but all the carrotty flavour is beaten out of them to make them grow straight. The few years that we grew carrots we had the best tasting ones since we were kids.

Olly said...

A very good question - how do they grow them so smooth and uniform? I bet yours taste good though - they look lovely in the jars. I've discovered your blog via your posts at Malarkey Manor, and being sofa-bound with a knee injury I've managed to read the whole thing. What an amazing journey from the caravan to where you are now, I look forward to reading more.

Vera said...

Jean, I shall not give up with carrots, but I shall try to dig them up sooner!

Olly, bless you and hi! Hope your knee injury sorts itself out soon, and well done you for reading all those previous blogs which must have surely been a heroic effort on your part.

rusty duck said...

It wouldn't surprise me one bit to find that supermarket carrots have never seen the soil at all.
Ours may not be designer, but they sure have character!

Vera said...

Jessica, it's so grand that other people have 'character' carrots as well! Hope that rabbit is not giving you probs.

Horst in Edmonton said...

Hi Vera, the people that grow carrots commercially have them in very loose soil and are thinned out so that nothing else touches them. These carrots, not like your are fed chemical fertilizer rather than organic fertilizer, that alone makes one heck of a difference. Your lot is being planted in fairly virgin soil so have more minerals and that gives them a great taste as well. You must also admit that the sediment from the river is great for your soil.

Vera said...

Hi Horst, thanks for the info. Our soil still needs a lot of organic fertilizers after years of abuse by the farmer who was renting the fields before we bought Labartere, and unfortunately the veg plot was never flooded by the river. Not to worry, we are getting lots of manure from the animals so that should help in the future. Hope you are well, and that your hips are healing real well.

Rhodesia said...

I gave up growing carrots after the first year. They were a disaster and instead of being long and straight, each one forked off in many roots. They were useless. Maybe I should try again now the soil has been worked a lot more. Take care Diane

Vera said...

Diane, I can quite see how you went off growing carrots! I am not quite sure what my thoughts are about growing them next year. Perhaps when I open those jars of harvested carrots during this coming winter, that this might give me some encouragement to have another go at growing them!

John Going Gently said...

Mine looked worse than yours but I bet they tasted the same
Chris said they looked like old men's penisis
X

Vera said...

John, this sent me to bed last night with a chuckle! Will never think quite the same about DIY carrots ever again!