Carrot Primo - Daucus carota

The Primo carrot is a fast-growing variety: only 12 weeks from sowing to harvest. It is also a good variety of bunched carrots. Its flesh is sweet and juicy. Sow from March to July. Harvest from June to November.

The carrot is a biennial herbaceous plant, grown as an annual, from the Apiaceae family. It is cultivated as a vegetable for its fleshy, edible, usually orange-coloured taproots. It is a root rich in carotene. It can generally reach a height of 30 cm (12in). The carrot is not demanding on soil type. However, the best roots will be harvested in a rich, light, and deep soil. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare the soil by deep digging in autumn, during which 2 to 3 kg of well-decomposed manure or compost will be buried. All rocks will be removed during this operation. Before sowing, the soil will be crumbled and fertilized with a base fertilizer, then left for about fifteen days. Sowing can then take place.

Harvest: during the season, harvest carrots as needed. To extract the roots from the soil, use a forked spade, taking care not to damage the root. Injuries to the roots can trigger carrot rot during storage.
Yields can be estimated based on the type of cultivation and carrot. For early crops, plan for between 1 and 1.5 kg/m²; about 3 kg/m² for a mid-season crop of a half-long variety, and up to 5 kg for a late crop of long carrots.

Storage: it can be done in the open ground, at the cultivation site, but this occupies a growing space in the vegetable garden. In winter, in this case, the roots will need to be protected from frost with a good layer of dead leaves. Indoor storage is an excellent long-term solution. In a frost-free and ventilated place, cut the foliage at the base and place the roots next to each other on a bed of moist sand. Cover them with a 2 cm (1in) layer of sand and place the next row.

Gardener's tips:
Sowing radishes and carrots on the same row and at the same time naturally distances the carrot seeds. Once the radish harvest is done, it will leave space for the carrots to grow. It's a win-win thinning!
Sowing carrots near a row of leeks protects them mutually from the carrot fly and the leek moth.