Carrots Gone Wild: Saving Seeds

My world has been a bit different this year. I've had limited time at my cabin because Mom's needed my help while recovering from back surgery.

As usual, I left last year's carrots in the ground over the winter for early spring harvesting. However, I wasn't there in time to get them out of the ground. By the time I arrived in early summer, they had already bolted and were beginning to flower. What to do?

My friend Margaret (Thistle Garden) in Powell River suggested I let the carrots go and save the seeds for future planting.

Carrots have a two year cycle, so it is rare to get all the way to the flowering and seed production stage. It will probably not happen again for me since my garden space is so limited. So why not give it a try this time around.

Margaret suggested I cover the flowers going to seed with muslin. This would capture the seeds in my absence. Muslin would keep the seeds in, but dry quickly enough to prevent moulding. Well, I didn't have any muslin so I used some cheesecloth I had left from canning last year. Hopefully the weave isn't to open. Carrot seeds are very tiny. I'll find out the results when I return to the cabin again in late September.

And even after I capture some seeds I won't know for sure what I have. I don't know if the seeds I originally planted were the open-pollinated variety that is required for seeds saving. Hybrid plants don't produce seeds true to the parent plant. They revert back to the components of the hybrid mixture. I'll keep you posted. -- Margy