Thursday 13 November 2014

A post, carried (after a fashion) by a carrot

So I wanted to come here and write, about something, nothing specific, just this and that, but when I looked for some photos from these short dark days there were almost none.  The trouble is the rain and the lack of light.  Indoor photos are yellow.  Outside, well, it's been raining.  I haven't been to the allotment for ages, although there's a big list of things to be done there.  It's been so wet that trampling around on the soil wouldn't have done it any good at all.  The sun did come out on Tuesday, but only after the clouds had filled the puddles all the way up.

I got the memory card out of the camera and put it in the laptop.  Since Sunday what photos were there?  What happy memories preserved for all eternity, what record of days spent in bucolic pleasure, what pictures of cheek clenching excitement and riotous fun, what pretty things made and what goals achieved?  There was a carrot.  To be precise, there was this carrot.


I know, words failed me too.  But this is what I have (and in fact all I have) so I'm telling you about it.  Brace yourselves.

I grew it myself you know.  I made my usual early season attempt to grow a nice carrot patch, to feed the children, and the other half and in fact the guinea pig.  In this house I can't imagine there ever being any such thing as too many carrots.   (Although you will note that I'm not queuing up to eat them myself).  It involves making neat little rows in the soil, emptying two or three packets of seed in, covering them up, and marvelling at how any seedlings that appear then miraculously disappear overnight.  Then after a few weeks I plant something else there instead and put it all down to experience and swear that next year I will do better.  

But this year I tried again, late in the season, and blow me down I have thirteen, count them, thirteen carrots.  Me and the guinea pig were beyond excited.  I waited and waited for them to grow.  I knew they'd never be huge, but finally they looked sort of promising, what with their nice green tops and what looked like decent carrot shoulders (this is the proper term for the top of the carrot, I'm sure it is).  So as the weather deteriorated I made the wild decision to pull one out.  And there it is.  Not so much carrot as stump.  I was expecting so much more.  I don't know why.  The triumph of hope over experience I suppose.  But there it is.  I'm over it now.  And I'm almost certain the others will all be long and straight and smooth.  

I know the disappointment of just one photo would be hard to bear, so I have another.  The close-up.  Are you ready?


There is promise there I think.  It's almost as if things started out well but then there was a crisis, or an event of some kind and what could have been something ended up being almost nothing.

I shall try harder next time.  But it had been a while and I just really wanted to stop by and say hello.  So please forgive me my sad carrot, and know that I am thinking of you all.  You're probably wondering what it tasted like.  The happy recipient found it quite delicious.


Next time I think I might complain about crochet.  Everyone makes it look so easy, but I am having a knotty, stringy nightmare of a time with it all and nothing makes sense and I really don't deal well at all with things that I can't do.  Bet you can't wait.  Until then, adios amigos.

49 comments:

  1. I am so proud of you and your carrot. Truly. I would really enjoy growing carrots. I remember as a child, I used to find what I can only assume were wild, or very long-ago planted, tiny carrots growing in the yard. I used to eat them as soon as I pulled them up, dirt and all. They were the best carrots I've ever had. I wish I knew how they got there, since the house was brand-new, along with the whole subdivision - my parents had it built when I was a baby. We moved from there when I was five years old, to a different state, and I thought about those carrots a lot! In fact, I was just talking about them maybe a week ago. Clearly, they left an impression. I love the shot with your guinea pigs, look how appreciative they are. Thank you for sharing, it's the stories like these that I crave every time I sit down with my tea to read a few blog posts.

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  2. Hi CJ... you did a great job of creating a fun and humorous post with your carrot.. you're a hoot! I can't wait to see what you're crocheting! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  3. Would your carrot like to meet my one and only spring onion?

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  4. lol most of my efforts to grow anything amount to less than your carrot. So I will be in awe of your allotment and you can be impressed by my crochet, and balance is restored :)
    Jillxo

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  5. You always make me smile CJ. We've never had any luck with carrots either.
    wish you were nearer and I could help with the crochet.
    Jacquie x

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  6. ps I got that annoying spam on my last post too. I've since deleted it.

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  7. Actually, your carrot looks quite fine. It has a beautiful, tasty color AND it is the perfect size for a small piggie.

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  8. You had me at that carrot! This post put a huge smile on my face friend! As many days I have nothing nada zip zero to show! Ah but tis life and if you ask me what you have accomplished in your garden amazes me! That is why this little carrot is so cute to me! Glad piggie got to enjoy it! And I got that silly spam comment on my blog too! Wishing you all good things this weekend!!! Nicole xo

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  9. Your carrot looks a lot better than my sad attempts to grow them - I've given up with them now; I don't think they like our clay soil! I'm sure your piglet was very appreciative anyway. Hope the weather there is better than it is here! Rain, rain go away! x

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  10. Your carrot looks a lot like the radish I grew the last time I attempted at growing them. The kids had high expectations... and we have no guinea pig to show at least some appreciation for the product grown... :-) but hey, you've grown such a lot of veggies and flowers, I'm sure you'll manage carrots next year :-) I'm looking forward to your crochet report :-) have a nice weekend!

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  11. A very delicious looking carrot it is too, I struggle with radish & spring onions. As these are supposed to be the easiest things to grow it doesn't say much about my gardening efforts! I can crochet a granny square anything else seems to fox me, I find knitting far easier but I really want a crochet ripple blanket.

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  12. Home grown carrots are the best (my dad grows them!) - that was one very lucky guinea pig! Have a great weekend. x

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  13. No doubt the slugs and snails enjoy your carrot growing attempts. Wouldn't hardening be a lot easier without them around to spoil things?

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  14. Oh dear!! This isn't a problem though, I tried to grow carrots, and got one, or perhaps there might have been two, tiny little carrots about the thickness of a strand of embroidery silk, yes, really, that thin!!! I wonder if your carrots were perhaps the stump rooted kind or the sort that are supposed to grow to kind of a ping pong ball size and shape? They are meant to be rather like yours - just a thought in case you would rather claim that as an idea! Sorry to hear that you are having trouble with your crochet, keep going and I am sure that it will come good. xx

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  15. That carrot top looks excellent CJ. It's dull and wet here too. A bit of brighter weather would be much appreciated.

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  16. For such a common vegetable, they sure are hard to grow. The problem with root vegetables is that it looks like you've got a great crop when you look at the foliage, it's only when you pull them up that you find out what's been going on underground. I'll be with you trying again next year.

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  17. I cannot grow carrots and have now given up! Complain all you like, we don't mind.

    CN x

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  18. You crack me up!!!!! Oh my goodness I needed a good chuckle this morning and I have one. CJ, you are the best and I wished you lived right next door to me because you would have brought the carrot over to me and I would have listened to your tale of woe and then laughed and laughed. Someone looks very happy that is for sure.
    Meredith

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  19. I sympathise about growing carrots as mine fared no better, and never do. I'll try again next year, as I'm sure you will, and perhaps we'll both be lucky.
    I also sympathise about the crochet but that's something I've never attempted, or likely to! Flighty xx

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  20. Your carrots can join my radishes which, despite much love and attention, grew amazing foliage and no root...I can also sympathise on the crochet. Mine is just not up to scratch even though I've really really tried!xx

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  21. CJ this made me laugh! I'm often heard complaining after all the work I've put into the veg, only to be greeted with an alien when pulled from the ground xx

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  22. Oh I know, the light this week has been just horrible, so grey and gloomy. Very challenging indeed. My memory card sometimes looks a bit like that. Except I have never grown a carrot. It's quite an interesting looking carrot though, it would be a great basis for an observational drawing! I hope this weekend brings you more sun. xx

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  23. Well, that little piggy sure looks happy! It's hard for me in the winter, too, to take pictures. The other seasons just make for so many more photo opportunities. I hope you have a wonderful weekend, CJ, and stay nice and toasty warm:)

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  24. Your post really made me smile! I've had problems growing carrots too, so can sympathise. Love your guinea pig - so cute. We had guinea pigs when the girls were small. I think they make lovely pets.

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  25. CJ - I know how you feel because this is how my beets turned out this year. I was SO excited to plant beets, since discovering last year that I love them ! Well, apparently hard soil full of clay and lacking in nutrients is not very good for growing big hunky beets. But when I added my puny little one into the nice ones from the CSA, the beet hummus tasted that much sweeter. And you can be happy to know your guinea pig is getting chemical free goodness.

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  26. It seems that carrots are best bought at the shops.... I do love your knobbly carrot and I bet it was the best carrot your guinea pig had all autumn. We have given up altogether with growing our own. I wonder if they would do better in a big deep planter with the finest possible soil? Crochet is tricky. I can do only very basic stitches and always get muddled up. I can't wait to read about your crochet adventure. Have a very lovely weekend. x

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  27. I think the carrots great, only way I've had sucess is to grow carrotin in pot stood on top of a crate to avoid carrot fly, the guinea pig looks happy with his carrot.
    Clare xx

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  28. I think shoulders is the exact term to use for the tops of carrots (and I will probably borrow it when I speak of them myself). Especially on this carrot since it looks like it has two legs and a torso! Bravo! I love it :)

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  29. Haha! That carrot is magnificent! I loved the carrot post. You must let us know if the guinea pig enjoyed it's delicacy and unique flavor and shape ;)

    I will complain with you about crochet. I am okay if it's just straight rows, but when the patterns go into crocheting in the round? a circle? a square? a granny, it all goes to pieces or KNOTS rather!

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  30. Long, straight carrots are terribly overrated - your stump is far more aesthetically entertaining.

    This is the best post I've read all week. There's a moral there.

    Heather xx

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  31. Great post! I think the carrot is cute and I bet the Guinea pig enjoyed it :) You've inspired me to get my gardening gloves on again :)

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  32. Bravo with your carrot. I planted some that were for patio containers. They were so tiny, the hamster had them. I wonder if it's stones that get in the way of a good downward growth. Btw there is an extraordinary general meeting of the St Ives allotment association next week. There's talk of eviction. It can't be me; I've just received my invoice from the council.
    Have a lovely weekend.
    Leanne xx

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  33. You have spoken so amusingly of the carrot that I am very eager to hear your thoughts on crochet. Do post soon.

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  34. I can't help but think that that carrot looks as if it has a peg leg. A pirate carrot?

    And please do complain about crochet ... it's ridiculously difficult and uses twice as much yarn as knitting!

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  35. You have shown us with excellent bravado how it is possible to write a compelling post with just one picture... although I think the cute guinea pig probably won you a few extra points!

    Seriously speaking, I would love to crochet and yet still I resist the temptation. Perhaps I fear an almighty fall!

    Stephanie

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  36. I can't believe you didn't eat the carrot yourself! I love crocheting and (sorry) find it easy to do. Why don't you go to a class to get you started? Once you have the basics you'll be able to carry on yourself.

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  37. That's more than I got - a badger dug all mine up and ate them before I had a chance.

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  38. Oh CJ, that's so funny. Growing your own can be a bit disappointing at times, but here we're equally disappointed if we don't get at least a couple of 'comedy vegetables' from what we sometimes laughingly call a crop. Wishing you a bumper crop of long tasty carrots next time :o) Jane xx

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  39. Well all I can say is well done for 'having a go'! I love the last picture - it added a sense of scale - now either it was also a very small carrot or you have a giant guinea pig! Thanks for the giggles x Jane

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  40. I empathize! I am the only person I know (or have ever heard of) who managed to grow one zucchini. Not one zuchinni plant, mind you. There were three plants. And one zuke.

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  41. At least you had a try, my growing things is limited to cress seeds on some damp tissue in a dark cupboard and trying to keep supermarket basil alive on the windowsill. Still I bet the guinea pig had a tasty tea x

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  42. oh this is a wonderful post. i'm very tired right now, so your carrot tales hit my funny bone in just the right spot :-)

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  43. this is the best post about a carrot I've ever read xxx

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  44. To be fair you just can't beat a good carrot CJ !
    Kate xx

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  45. I once had a fantastic harvest enough to feed the family for a few weeks but never again. This year I didn't even get a hint of a plant from a whole packet of seeds :(. I always thought they were so easy to grow, but then what do I know?

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  46. That is one creepy carrot. It has 2 legs. It's like a person carrot. It's exciting you even grew that weird person carrot because I myself have never even tried. Props to you and your carrot!

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  47. Ha ha! Very funny! I also have problems with carrots and it's reassuring to read here that so many others do too. I did have more of a success this year growing a few small patches of carrots dotted around and covered them with old net curtains drooped over wire to add a bit of height and protect from carrot fly. Best I've had so far, so will try this again next year. Sowing later worked better for me as the earlier ones either didn't germinate or were eaten as seedlings.
    Also have the same soggy weather and really need to finish sowing garlic and starting broad beans etc. It's raining again the whole weekend in Norwich, wah.
    But at least it's giving me the excuse of looking at some new-to-me blogs like yours :) hope to become a regular reader.

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