Well hello there lovely readers of the Daylesford Organics blog, have I got a surprise for you. Along with the new blog layout with the extra pages you can click on, we also have a guest blogger today. None other than Daylesford Organics' own Farmer Bren!! Hooray!! Please be nice to him this is his very first blog post.
We call these rainbow carrots and for most people they are a novelty. In reality the orange carrot is only about 500 yrs old where as the purple dates back possibly 5000 yrs.
There are many conflicting stories as to the origins of each colour, but it seems that the purple carrot originated in Afghanistan thousands of years ago, with various yellows and whites crossing along the way until the "Horn" varieties were first recorded in the Netherlands in 1721. These varieties are thought to be the predecessor of all today's orange carrots.
I do find this history fascinating, but that's just me. I have a book in the toilet that I pick up now and then called Hybrid. The History & Science of Plant Breeding by Noel Kingsbury, an interesting read if you are a garden geek like me.
Mostly what excites me about carrots is not their history but their taste, look, smell and crunch.Why grow only one colour of carrot when each one of these has a distinct flavour?
Washing carrots is not a bad job at this time of year, although I won't be saying the same thing come the May harvests.
To me it is a bit like flower arranging. I reckon they are a bit like bunches of flowers.
Great photo Katie!
Who said carrots were boring?
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