Carrot

Carrot 'Kyoto Red' (Daucus carota) is a heritage style carrot grown for its deep red skin, crisp texture and naturally sweet flavour. One packet sows a full row or a deep container, and it is forgiving enough to be a first vegetable crop.

What it does

• Keeps its colour on the plate. Much of the red is retained after cooking, so roasted roots still read red rather than fading to orange.
• Sweet and crisp, not just decorative. The texture stays firm, which makes it as good juiced or roasted as it is eaten raw.
• Consistent in a range of conditions. It crops dependably rather than demanding a perfect season, which is why it suits a beginner.
• Nothing extra to feed it. Kyoto Red produces quality roots without mulching or fertiliser.

How to use it

Sow direct into the bed or container where the carrots will grow, at the sowing depth printed on the packet, and keep the surface damp until the seedlings are through. Thin them to 5cm to 8cm apart: that gap is what lets a root size up straight and full.

Sow more thickly than you need and you can pull every second seedling as a baby carrot, leaving the rest to finish, which lifts the yield from one packet. It goes in year round in most of the country, with autumn and spring the strongest seasons. Allow 10 to 14 weeks from sowing to harvest, and sow a short row at a time so the pulling is spread out.

What it suits

In the ground. Open vegetable beds, where loose, stone free soil gives the root a clear run down and produces straight, evenly shaped carrots.

Soil you can control. Raised beds and deep pots of free draining mix, which is often easier because you control the soil rather than fighting the one you have.

A row at a time. Succession sowing for continuous harvests. It is not for shallow troughs or stony, compacted ground: the roots need depth to size up. Seed is delivered Australia wide,.

Related products and reading

• Browse the vegetable seed range
• Planning a productive vegetable garden
• Preparing soil before sowing