Carrot Cosmic Purple is a Heirloom variety with a beautiful and unusual colour. The outside of the carrots is purple red and the inside is orange. The carrots hold there unusual colour even after cooking. Use this carrot for a late spring or summer sowing. The very deliciously sweet carrots are very crispy. It's a fast grower, but it needs like all carrots, well loosened and light soil for a good result. Not suited for the growing on clay soil. Can be frozen to store.
Carrot is a very healthy and versatile vegetable. Carrot contains a.o.: vitamin A, B1, B2, B6, B11 and C. Carrot also contains the minerals: calcium, phosphor, iron, potassium, copper, magnesium, sodium and zinc. Carrots also contain a lot of fibres and little calories. You can cook, steam, stew, stir-fry, bake, grill and roast carrots. You can also use them raw as healthy snack or fast food or you can use them in casseroles. Carrot is delicious in combination with: chicken, beef, salmon, bay leaf, thyme, pork, lamb, nuts, apple, eggs, potatoes, lime, cinnamon, cumin, red pepper, turmeric, cheese, horse-radisch root, onions, chives and whipped cream. Carrots are also delicious in combination with other vegetables like: sweet pepper, lettuce, leek, peas, mushrooms, selery, tomatoes, courgette and spring onion. You can also add carrots to soups, pastasauces, mashed potato stews, stews and salads. Non hardy annual. Seize: 15 - 17 cm.
Outdoor sowing under glass: February - March
Outdoor sowing: April - end of July
Germination: 6 - 14 days
Germination temp. : 13 - 20 °C
Sowing depth: ½ - 1 cm
Planting distance: 5 - 10 cm
Row spacing: 20 - 25 cm
Thinning of the seedlings: 2 - 3 weeks after germination
Plant position: sunny
Harvest period: middle of May - October
Sow outdoors under glass (cover) from February on. Don't sow carrots indoors in trays because transplanting of the seedlings can cause splitting of the roots. Sow sparingly and cover the seeds with a thin layer of soil. Cover the soil with fleece and some transparent perforated plastic foil. Keep the soil moist and remove the fleece and perforated plastic foil each day for about 15 minutes to air the seeds. Remove the fleece and plastic foil when the seedlings have emerged. Thin the seedlings to 5 cm for thin varieties and 10 cm for winter carrots.
Sow outdoors from April on, when there's no longer any danger of nightfrost. Sow on a sunny plot with freedraining soil and loosen the soil about 25 - 30 cm deep to help the carrots to grow straight and to a good size. Don't use extra fertilizer because this causes the carrots to become hairy and forked. Carrot seeds are very tiny and dark so it is important to mark the sowing spot.
Thin the seedlings 2 - 3 weeks after germination to about 5 - 10 cm apart. Water the carrots regularly and weed often to make sure that the carrots grow on. Harvest the carrots with a pitch fork. Harvest a row of carrots at the same time, because harvesting can attract the carrotfly. Carrots can be kept in the fridge for a couple of days. They can be frozen to store. You can store winter carrots by putting them in wooden boxes filled with sand. Twist of the foliage of the carrots. First put a layer of moist sand in the wooden box and put 1 layer of carrots on this and then you cover the carrots with another layer of sand. End with a layer of sand. Store the boxes in a dark, frostfree and cool place. Watch out for mice.
