golfball carrots M

[sarahinitaly]

Am totally fasinated with these carrots, Parmex



Am def going to give them a try but wondered if anybody already had and if they tasted nice or have any foibles I should know about.

Am going loopy for all the funny coloured carrots at T&M, will end up with a rainbow in the garden next year LOL.

[Alice]

Hello Sarahinitaly, yes I grew Parmex in a container last year and they did well. Produced lots of little round carrots which were ideal for cooking whole in stews. It's worth giving them a go if you want to try several varieties of carrot.

[Alice]

And welcome to the Vine Sarah. What else are you growing in Italy ?

[shirlthegirl43]

I planted some of these last week but I haven't tried them before. This will be my first go at growing carrots in the garden - I did some in a bucket last year and we had one meal worth, much tastier than shop-bought.

[chrissie the chippy]

haven't ried them, but they are on my list! Along with every colour of carrot you can imagine

I'll have an allotments worth of carrots if I don't control myself

[sarahinitaly]

Weeds

And welcome to the Vine Sarah. What else are you growing in Italy ?

the house is a three hundred year old Cascina and when we bought it we pulled up the domed concrete covering the "garden" that they used for drying the rice in the days before silos.

And under that concrete was a billion seeds waiting to grow bigger than me in under a week.

this is the forth year they have caught me on the hop, the last two years I had a "normal" veggie garden and they over ran it in a week, then I tried poor mans square foot with black plastic, they laughed at the plastic and they grew up under it at the "seams" and pushed it aside (and it was weighted down with concrete bits, though obviously not enough bits of concrete). This year they grew quicker than the grass seed (stupid slow grass) and I am now flooding the entire garden at night so I can pull them up in the morning, and then I am going to carpet the entire garden in ten layers of cardboard and run around like a mad kamikazee with a flame thrower if they break through that until late October/Novemeber when I can reseed with grass where I would like a lawn.

This winter I am going to biuld a proper square foot garden and put down weed fabric under the beds and the paths and then some militant mulch on top of the anti weed fabric and get some super quick grass seed for the bit I want for Frankie to play on)

I have got some zucchini a few tomatoes, peepers and aubergines growing near the wall but it will take another day of p[ulling up weeds before I can reach them, probably have marrows by the time I get there. Stuff grows here, bt the weeds are runining everything cos nless I make it a full time job.

Sort of wish I had left the concrete and just bought some pots now LOL

I suppose I could do that solarisation thing, but my poor worms !!! I have been deliberatly feeding them and encouraging them for four years (we are in a typically worm poor area) and now I have millions of them and I just can't trade weed free heaven for poor dead wormies.

Next year, next year I will have a proper garden and woe betide any weed that tries it on with me cos I will get sadistic and jump on it after I have pulled it up.

Sarah

[sarahinitaly]

So it isn't too late for me to

I planted some of these last week but I haven't tried them before. This will be my first go at growing carrots in the garden - I did some in a bucket last year and we had one meal worth, much tastier than shop-bought.

plant up a pot with some now ?

Wicked !! I thought this year was shot what with the jungle weed issue but I have loads of buckets lying around that could be cheering me up on the path instead of tripping me up eveytime I fall over them in the middle of the "garden"

Then I wouldn't feel like that once again I have failed to "seize the season"

What is the spacing like in a bucket ? I only want little ones (otherwise Frankie turns his nose up at them) so can I fit more in ?

[sarahinitaly]

seductive aren't they LOL

haven't ried them, but they are on my list! Along with every colour of carrot you can imagine

I'll have an allotments worth of carrots if I don't control myself

between the carrots and the swiss chard piccies I am planning a garden based on the pretty pictures in the catalogue rather than what people want to/will eat, still, you can't go wrong with a carrot can you, carrots go with anything.

Even the dogs like them.

[shirlthegirl43]

plant up a pot with some now ?

Wicked !! I thought this year was shot what with the jungle weed issue but I have loads of buckets lying around that could be cheering me up on the path instead of tripping me up eveytime I fall over them in the middle of the "garden"

Then I wouldn't feel like that once again I have failed to "seize the season"

What is the spacing like in a bucket ? I only want little ones (otherwise Frankie turns his nose up at them) so can I fit more in ?

Think I planted them about an inch and a half apart each way. They were planted late July and we ate them with crimbo dinner. Yummy. You could also do dwarf french beans in a pot now and I have Swiss chard in a bucket too. You could also sow cut and come again salad leaves and beetroot, radish and spring onions in buckets (if you have somewhere sheltered from frost if that happens with you). I grew lots of things in buckets last year as my garden wasn't ready to plant. There are many threads on here with suggestions as to what you can grow in containers - do a search for containers and you will get lots of ideas.

Don't get stressed by the weeds - I have taken 10 years to start taming my garden and now I am digging over what was a bramble patch and sowing as I clear so that I can see the success.

[dexterdoglancashire]

I planted some in pots last weekend, they look cute don't they? Can't wait to see my results! Bernie

[bramble]

I planted these in a container last year and they were lovely. This year i planted unwins stump rooted variety ( which does well in containers as they don't grow too long) and they have a really good flavour. I would recommend these two varieties for container growing.