Thanks! I think I see some Cauliflower, Broccoli and Brussel Sprouts in my future garden.
Love radishes but I can’t get a decent carrot so... Speaking of which, I have been trying to grow carrots for 45 years, since I was a kid. I think the best I have ever had was some about 6 inches long. Last year I got some midgets...man, they tasted good but two bites and it was gone. WTH am I doing wrong? Too hard of soil? Not enough water? Too much water? more/less fertilizer?
Carrots need a lot of water and as a cool weather crop they do not do well in hot weather.
Your soil is probably too hard. Carrots need loose, rich soil. Try raised beds. I grow lots of carrots year round, both outside and in the greenhouse. They blow the crap you get in the grocery store away. I like two varieties from Johnny’s Seeds, Napoli and Mokum. (www.johnnyseeds.com) Johnny’s offers carrot seeds “peletized” with a coating that looks like frosting on a Krispy Kreme donut. This makes the seeds about the size of a BB, so they’re easier to deal with at planting time (and no thinning!)
I remember my Mom planting carrots when I was a kid. Her first year... a disaster. Very few carrots and they were “twisted”. She thought that she had worked the soil but it was clay dirt. So... she brought back bags of soil from a region she grew up in Pennsylvania. Dark, black soil and that year was a bumper crop of midgets and other types. Thus... I am wondering about your soil?!
I have the same problem with carrots. Last year I had some small success by planting them in the fall, covering them for the winter, then uncovered in the spring, and had carrots to eat at the end of March.
This year I am going to plant some in a big pot in the fall, and bring it inside for the winter. I will also grow tomatoes, peppers, and spinach indoors this year. I love fresh salads from my own garden.