Those of you that follow this blog may remember last fall when we had harvested most of the produce in the garden. We had a few tomatoes left to pick (in the last section) and the carrots were still in the ground (middle section). We had begun trimming the lavender in the first section.
By September, the only plants left were the carrots. We planned to leave them in the ground as long as possible.
In late October, we dug up all the carrots. They were beautiful!
The extra little carrots with tops were rinsed off and given to a friend’s pet rabbits.
When the carrots were dry, we put them into gallon zip bags without closing them and put them in a large insulated bag. This sat in the garage for months and when we wanted carrots, I could just grab a few for dinner or salads.
During the cold freeze a few weeks ago, the garage got below freezing for several days so I set the bag of carrots in the kitchen. When it warmed up, I moved the bag back to the garage…sort of a traveling “root cellar.”
Yesterday, we wanted cooked carrots for dinner. I grabbed a bag of carrots out of the insulated bag. Too funny…they were starting to grow!!
So, I’ll begin by trimming up all the carrots. They should keep another month or so in the refrigerator. They’ll be ready for salads and dinners.
After 4 months in the garage, they are still tasty, crunchy and very orange!
It’s very nice to be reminded how much we enjoy the garden produce all year long! Our canned 4-bean salad, pizza sauce and pickle relish are frequent treats all winter!