Carrot "Gniff"

Here´s what´s ahead:

• Getting started

• Sowing

• Location

• Care

• Harvest & Storage

• Enjoy

Getting started

This old carrot variety stands out because of its beautiful purple colour. This is also indicated by its name: "Gniff" means "violet" in a Suisse dialect. After sowing, you need a little patience with this variety - it grows relatively slowly. On the other hand, the carrots can be stored very well after harvesting and you can enjoy them for a long time.

The most important information at a glance:

• Germination depth: 1 - 2 cm

• Temperature: 10 - 20 °C

• Germination period: 14 - 21 days

• Sowing indoors: March - June

• Relocate outdoors: from May on, avoid repotting

• Direct sowing outdoors: May - June

• Harvest carrot: September - October

• Harvest seeds: in 2nd year, August - September

• Plant spacing: 5 - 10 cm

• Root depth: 20 cm

• Nutrient requirements: low

Sowing

Sowing in a pot:

• From March to June.

• Carrots do not need to be pre-sown, so you can sow them directly in the bed or in a pot.

• The pot should be at least 30 cm deep and have drainage holes.

• Fill the pot with vegetable soil.

• Take the seed paper out of your calendar and tear it into small pieces.

• Poke holes in the soil (1 to 2 cm deep, 5 to 10 cm apart).

• Spread the pieces of seed paper in the holes and cover them with soil.

• Water everything well and keep the substrate moist until germination.

Direct sowing in the bed:

• From May to June.

• Make grooves (1 to 2 cm deep, 5 to 10 cm apart).

• Take the seed paper from your calendar and tear it into small snippets.

• Spread the snippets in the grooves at a distance of 5 to 10 cm.

• Fill the rows with soil and keep the seeds moist until germination.

Separate:

• The final plant spacing should be 5 to 10 cm.

• If the plants grow too close together, you should thin them out.

• Remove plants that are too close together; it is best to do this during rainy weather to avoid attracting carrot flies.

Location

• Sunny

• Soil: sandy, rich in humus, loose and well-drained.

• When growing in pots, make sure that the pot is deep enough (at least 30 cm).

• Good neighbours: savory, pea, cucumber, garlic, leek, chard, chives, spinach and tomato.

• Bad neighbours: potato, parsnip, parsley, beetroot and celery.

Care

• Avoid waterlogging

• Water only when the soil is dry. You can easily check this with your finger.

• Carrots grown in pots need to be watered more often than those grown in beds.

• Fertilise sparingly

• Pile soil over the heads of the carrots so that they do not stick out of the ground.

• Remove weeds regularly.

Pests:

• Carrot fly: As a preventive measure, stretch a protective net and plant a mixed crop with onions.

• Slugs: As a preventive measure, install a slug fence and water in the morning (moisture in the evening attracts slugs). In case they do make it to your plants, collect the slugs and release them far away.

Harvest & Storage

• Harvest from September to October.

• It is better to harvest earlier than later. If the carrots remain in the soil too long, they can taste woody.

• Loosen the soil carefully with a digging fork, grab the leaves and pull the carrots out of the soil.

• Storage: twist off the leaves and put them in a box with sand. Place in a cool cellar.

Enjoy

• Best used raw; when cooked, the carrot loses some of its purple colour.

• Goes perfectly with salads or raw with some dip.

• You can use carrot greens to make pesto.