The Diversity of Carrots:

[bicentennial_baby]

[XemaSab]

1. Cool!

You can see the different pigments in them really well!

[bicentennial_baby]

3. I want purple carrots...now

[XemaSab]

5. Me too...

If they're good tasting, I wonder if you could make a purple salad?

With purple bell peppers, red lettuce, beets, red beans... purple carrot shavings... all topped with a raspberry vinaigrette. :9

[bicentennial_baby]

6. I used to grow purple potatoes

:D They make cool mashed taters

[Dr. Strange]

2. The ORIGINAL carrot

[bicentennial_baby]

4. I knew that was coming, and...

You are the debbil... x(

[Dr. Strange]

7. Count your blessings!

It could have been one of the steroid pics!
At least this way, you won't be having nightmares.

[bicentennial_baby]

8. Don't you get it? I'm already plagued by the nightmares...

I'll never wash that image of nipples from my innocent brain... :cry:

[Gormy Cuss]

9. Hey ! I grow some of those.

The little squat one (my variety is called Tonda Di Parigi) and the first orange one on the bottom left (Danvers half long.) Carrots are persnickety about germination but once they get started they'll usually grow to full size, although some may be forked.

[bicentennial_baby]

10. I've never had great luck with carrots...

Decent, but not great. Onions were slightly better. Potatoes were grand. Someday, I'll figure out these underground veggies. But then again, someday, I'll have a garden again. x(

[Gormy Cuss]

11. Carrots and onions are tough.

You need to learn a very localized schedule for when to plant and when to harvest. Some years our onions and carrots are great, other years they're pretty sad.

Garlic on the other hand makes us feel like freaking geniuses. We don't buy garlic more than one month each year -- the rest comes out of our own yard and we are garlic freaks who go through 1-3 bulbs each week. Now you know why it was first on my foods-I-can't-live-without list.;-)

[bicentennial_baby]

12. Can I grow garlic in a large pot?

Or a long trough? What's the sun req's?

[Gormy Cuss]

13. I think not a pot.

A trough maybe if it's deep enough. In the ground garlic throws down roots in the winter and then waits patiently for warmer weather to grow the green tops and bulb up. In the Northeast the garlic cloves are mulched heavily to keep them from freezing during the winter. For that reason I wouldn't try garlic in a trough before Spring. You'll end up with smaller bulbs than you'd get in the ground, but it should work.

In the late stage garlic wants warmth and a long sunny day. The better the conditions, the bigger the bulb. The other important thing to watch is scaping ( a big hollow core leaf shoot that will flower if not trimmed out)-- you must cut off the scapes early or the garlic won't bulb up properly. Scapes are edible and taste like a very mild garlic scallion.

I have a friend who grows garlic in the ground in Northern Vermont's short season, so it's worth a try in the Qz.