CARROT STORIES:

I have currently in my fridge a 5# bag of carrots that husband purchased to share with a friend’s donkey. Visit to the donkey got postponed so the great big bag of carrots is making me crazy.

Another friend likes to purchase what she calls horse carrots from the Asian market. She always slices these into thin chip- like rounds to serve with hummus.

I have a lovely memory of carrot soup with chervil. Not an easy herb to find so the recollected flavor has become magical.

What a good idea, John, I often refer back to those old Cook Along threads.

I do know about planting carrots and growing them. This year I planted red carrots, yellow carrots, black carrots, purple carrots, orange carrots and white carrots. I really like the flavor of the yellow carrots best, the variety was called Yellowstone. Unfortunately I did not get a big crop because the groundhog liked them very much indeed and kept eating them before they grew large enough for me to eat.

My favorite way to cook carrots is roasted. I do use them in many things, like soup or stock or stew, in coleslaw and salads, even in muffins and cake. I always have some in the refrigerator, although sometimes they are pretty pitiful and then they go into the stockpot.

My favorite recipe using carrots? Morning Glory Muffins, which are delicious but definitely not all that healthy, LOL. I like Ina Garten's recipe:

Ina's Morning Glory Muffins

1 cup vegetable oil, plus extra for the pan if not using paper liners

3 extra-large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 cups grated carrots, unpeeled and grated

1 Granny Smith apple, unpeeled and grated

1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained

1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped

1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup raisins

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Bring the oven temperature up to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and set up two racks, making sure they are evenly spaced. Use paper muffin cups to line two muffin pans.

2. Combine the eggs, oil, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Mix in the pineapple, pecans, coconut, carrots, and raisins.

3. Sift the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Whisk together the dry and wet ingredients until barely mixed.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin cups using a regular (2 1/4-inch) ice cream scoop (rounded scoops).

5. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Set the pans on a baking rack to cool and serve the muffins warm or at room temperature.

This makes a lot of muffins, I usually get about 16 or 18, depending on how full I fill the cups, of course. These are really good with some marmalade or a lemon glaze, gild the lily you know, LOL.

I will say that I never sift, I use whatever apple I have on hand and sometimes use walnuts instead of pecans but you know me, I'm a rebel. (grin)

Annie

Great description, John!

Re Bugs (my favorite as a little kid, perhaps because he was so rude and naughty in a way a real person couldn't be), my own supposition is that the carrot was a bunny appropriate analog to a cigar. Also, the carrot orange popped nicely against his gray and white self, the other characters, and most backgrounds. And like Annie's groundhog, bunnies will eat your carrots before they have half a chance to be carroty. I'm pretty sure a rutabaga wouldn't do any of those things, and it' hard to hold, muted in color, not at all nice raw, not nice to bite into, and not wet enough to crunch nicely, not sweet enough, raw, to want to. Just sayin'…

This is the original recipe I was talking about before: https://www.food.com/recipe/moroccan-carrot-dip-112229

This is the way I actually make it:

Moroccan Carrot Dip

INGREDIENTS

16 ounces carrots, peeled and chopped into large pieces
3+ large cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch cayenne pepper
sea salt, to taste
1 tablespoon garlic infused honey
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook the chopped carrot and garlic in simmering, salted water, for about 20 minutes or until soft.

2. Drain well, then return them to the hot, dry pan for a minute or two, over medium heat, to dry them out further.

3. Let the pan cool a tad and chop with immersion blender, until real lumps are gone but there is still texture.

4. Add the cumin, paprika, ginger, cinnamon, cayenne, sea salt, honey and lemon juice and whizz again. Taste and adjust to your preferences.

5. Add the olive oil gradually.

6. Allow to cool.

7. Spoon into a serving bowl, drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil (I don't scatter with olives and cilantro leaves, but you could), and serve with lightly warmed flat bread for dipping.

This holds well for some days in the fridge. I like glass bowls with airtight covers. It's very good as a spread in sandwiches. Or straight off your fork.

Ina’s recipes are always reliable. I really like her - not that I know her, but anyway the her that I see.

My go-to use of carrots is spiralized and just so briefly boiled, as a sub for pasta. Enjoy with bolognaise sauce, then throw out your shoulder patting yourself on the back for being so virtuous.

I’d like to make carrot pasta sometime, using the trick of dehyrating and powdering veg then substituting it for some of the flour.

The carrot dish I make for others is usually beer butter braised carrots. No real recipe but basically you peel and cut carrots into quarters lengthwise, cook in plenty of melted butter and a little sugar, then pour in a bit of stout or ale and braise until carrots are tender and sweet and glazed. I think I read it in a Frugal Gourmet book.

I recall having mashed carrots as a child. It seems like an archaic dish, maybe something people had in the Depression, but it also seems with heavy cream, salt, and butter it would be delicious. Of course, mashed dirt would be good with enough heavy cream, salt, and butter.

Annie, any tips for growing carrots? Soil, feeding, sun? We tried last summer and they got to maybe two inches long :-(

I like my carrots plain, steamed or cooked in a little water, cut crosswise in diagonal 'round'. No butter, no salt or pepper (I did used to fix them with a sprinkle of nutmeg, which is really good, but I don't even bother with that anymore). I hate carrot pennies, lol, and am too lazy to do sticks. I love them raw in a Waldorf type salad; I use the Cuisinart to shred for that. I also love them in fresh spring rolls, shredded even finer with a shredding peeler.

I never buy carrots in plastic bags, especially the little nubs because they always taste mildewed to me. Our food co-op sells locally grown carrots well into winter until the ground freezes hard (and sometimes even after if the farmers have mulched heavily enough). They get better and better as the ground cools and the farmers around here harvest for the farmer's market and the co-op. I have my favorite vendors with carrots I prefer, but I have no idea the type of carrot they are. I do try to buy the straightest ones I can find because they are easier to handle for peeling.

Recently, I've been served carrot top pesto a couple of times and I like it better than I would have imaIgined, but I probably wont ever make it at home. I let the farmer/vendors at the farmer's market keep the tops for their animals or compost.

Carrots are a mystery. Why do they taste much better to me cut lengthways than into coins? My theory is that the greater surface area of coins leaches out the flavour. My favourite recipe is a scrubbed, raw, whole fresh carrot. Favourite cooked recipe is boiled and butter glazed. I also roast them. I've made pesto from the tops but never managed to produce one worth the effort.

I can't grow them in my heavy clay soil. They need a light sandy soil.

Oh, yeah! Carrot tops! I twist them off and wash them before putting the carrots in the roots drawer, and set them aside to dry. Before they're dry as straw, I like to line the bottom of the multicooker with them, before slow cooking a slab of chuck or whatnot, They do add a note of complex greenity, though it's mostly to keep the meat off the bottom of the pot.

So, I do use the bagged organic carrots for things like Awesome Chicken on the fly. I especially like the rainbow ones for that. I usually scrub real carrots, but have trusted the bags 'till now. Still, as a bed for raw chicken that's getting the carp literally cooked out of them, I'm not so worried even so. I don't mind raw carrots, but don't seek them.

When I was a kid I loved stew or potroast not so much for the meat as the carrots. They were usually baby carrots, peeled and cooked through, but neverr mushy. Toe curlingly good. My mother put extras in for me. I rarely make stew, but the carrots from the chicken are pretty good too.

One of my favorite ways to eat carrots is Ina Garten's recipe for Old Fashioned Carrot Salad. Other times, I will just boil up and pot of them and add butter for a nice snack.

When I'm not eating them, I love visiting our Retirement for Horses farm and feeding them to the beauties that reside there.

You can indeed grow carrots in heavy clay, but you have to amend the clay. Dig a wide trench, work lots of organic material like leaves into the soil the year before, let it all winter over and plant a short carrot variety (though I've had success with Danvers which is long). If you plant in blocks instead of rows, it's a lot easier--just work leaves in with a garden fork and plant rows about 4-6 inches apart.

Of course, adding of lots of leaves is great for improving soil throughout the vegetable garden. I've hugely improved the worst clay soil I've ever seen in just 3 years by adding leaves every fall, and good compost (NOT peat based) when planting anything.

The worst problem I've having with carrots in my new location is the carrot maggot/fly. Have to cover plantings with row covers like I do with cole crops to keep pests off.

I could amend the soil (which already gets copious leaves and compost every year). But I don't think the time and effort are worth it. Nobody on our allotments site can grow decent carrots. You could make bricks from the soil and even digging a trench would be hard work. I get delicious fresh bunch carrots delivered from a market gardener a couple of miles away. I've had my allotment thirty three years and I know the soil well enough to just grow what suits it, and me, in terms of time and effort.

@plllog - That ”garlic infused honey”, is that an important ingredient or would plain honey be fine given there’s more garlic in the recipe? Looking online, I see more references to ”fermented” which has me wondering if it has a specific flavor.

I seldom use carrots in cooking, but I do put them in coleslaw, and I recently created a recipe for Napa cabbage coleslaw, but I don't know where I saved it. I saw a printed copy of it at the other house and did not bother to take it with me because I was sure I had saved it in Dropbox, but I cannot find it. However, it was so simple that I think I can recreate it. It had grated carrot, red onion, and red bell pepper in it, and I made a dressing that was oil, vinegar, mayo, and black pepper. I do remember that I salted the thinly sliced cabbage and let it rest, as if I were making kimchee, and then I rinsed it and dried it. It is the only recipe I make that relies heavily on raw carrots.

I use matchstick carrots in some Vietnamese recipes, such as spring rolls and nuoc cham, but I consider them to be an optional ingredient.

For cooking, I add shredded carrot to lentil soup, to add a bit of sweetness, and I am careful not to add too much. I keep dehydrated carrot on hand in case I do not have fresh carrots on hand, as I usually do not have any. I make lentil soup fairly often.

I've made ginger carrot soup in the past that I liked and make this to use up excess carrots. This recipe requires fresh ginger, of course.

When I worked at a restaurant in San Francisco, they wanted me to make carrot cake, but I did not have a recipe for that that I liked, and so I never made it. Anyway, I don't remember seeing carrots in the restaurant for me to use. They may have had them seasonally, but I don't remember.

FOAS, regular honey would be just fine. I probably wouldn't bother making garlic honey (which is probably fermented, but not to the point of alcohol) just for this recipe. I just use it because I have it. Pure honey is sweeter and thicker, so adjust according to your own taste. The result shouldn't taste noticeably sweeter than without the honey. It's more for subtle effects on texture and flavor—that said, make it however you want.

Ever since I had a really bad bunch a couple of years ago which only showed its taste when cooked in a stew, I am having a love hate relationship with carrots. Taste memories of ’that stew’ still haunt my flavour buds and I don’t enjoy carrots as much as I used to.

That said, I cook with them quite a lot, including the ubiquitous carrot cake. I have made the delicious fresh ginger carrot soup and of course constantly in Cole slaw.

I also don’t like ‘pennies’ and will go the extra mile to cut into lengths and/or dice to avoid them. And I always peel them, I don’t at all like the earthy taste unpeeled carrots have.

We do have quite a lot of stir fries and I inevitably put battens in there. Also when I make pumpkin soup I normally add a carrot or two which all gets whizzed up with the hand blender.

I also love them roasted or thin sticks dipped in ranch dressing.

This is a simple old favorite from the Silver Palate duo.

Carrot Dill Soup

4 T. butter
1 onion, diced
2 1/2 lbs. carrots, peeled and diced
2 ribs celery, leaves included, diced
8 cups chicken stock (homemade or canned)
1/4 cup plus 2 T. chopped fresh dill
1 tsp. salt (or to taste)
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of cayenne

For garnish: Creme Fraiche (or sour cream), diced red bell pepper, fresh dill sprigs

Melt butter in soup pot. Add onion and cook over low heat until wilted, about 10 minutes.

Add carrots, celery, stock, 1/4 cup dill, salt, black pepper and cayenne. Bring to boil, reduce heat and cover. Simmer until carrots are tender, 40 minutes. Allow to cool slightly.

Puree soup with immersion blender in the soup pot...OR, in batches, puree in blender or food processor. Return it to the pot, stir in remaining 2 T. dill and adjust seasonings. Heat through.

Serve each bowl of soup garnished with creme fraiche (or sour cream), sprinkling of red pepper and sprig of dill.

Cook a long carrots link

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/2379944/cookalong-3-carrots-thread-1

Leaves to improve garden soil - I’m doing it! Lots of leaves here. Hopefully by spring the leaves will have broken down.

Thick rounds of carrots in stew - that is such a comfort food. I am wanting to make a hearty beef stew now.

It occurs to me that carrots are decent at absorbing flavors, not as much of a yummy sponge as zucchini or potato, but better than brocolli or beans.

Hmm, I now remember another nostalgic carrot dish - do you remember “peas and carrots” with little cubes of carrot, that was a ubiquitous side dish back in the day?

I think I will go see what the ratties think about carrots.

EDIT: The ratties do not think much of raw carrot. They are quite spoiled. Would prefer Islay's cooked carrots with honey and parsley.

I love carrots cooked in a little water, a lot of butter and a lot of parsley. Cook until the water evaporates.

Also roasted with spices, a little honey drizzled for the last few minutes, served on a bed of yogurt mixed with a little tahini, sprinkled with dukka. Lovely as part of a mezze table.

John, the leaves may not be completely broken down so just chop them in, sow your seeds and use quality compost (again, not peat based if your soil is clay) to cover the seed. If putting in plants, no problem at all. And if you have loamy or sandy soil, peat based compost is fine.

Re growing veggies in general: no matter what your soil type is, and no matter how good or bad your soil is, you must add lots and lots of organic matter yearly to build or maintain good soil. Consider the massive amount of organic matter you remove yearly from a vegetable garden; all that must be replaced with more organic material--leaves, hay, compost, whatever organic material you can get except wood which takes a long time to break down and robs the soil of nitrogen while doing so. However, wood mulch is fine for paths in a vegetable garden as long as the paths are permanent and not plowed in the following season. My garden beds are permanent--in ground, not raised--and the paths are permanent too.

Again, my heavy clay "soil" was cement when dry but by the third season has massively improved with lots of leaves, compost and a permanent cover of weed free hay that I push aside for sowing or make holes in for plants.

“…do you remember “peas and carrots” with little cubes of carrot, that was a ubiquitous side dish back in the day?”

Sure do!

laceyvail has pretty much covered the growing carrots issue. Some people seem to have some issue with sprouting, and the seedlings are tiny. I plant a radish seed about every 6 inches so I can find the row when they come up. By the time the radishes are big enough to pull and eat, the carrots are well sprouted. Some people lay a board over the seeds in the planted row, saying the moisture helps the seeds to sprout. Carrot seeds do like to be damp to sprout, but I"ve never had a problem with just planting the seed and watering daily until they germinate. I've also never had any insect or disease problems with carrots, just the 4 legged and furry types.

Carrot tops? Bud's guinea pig, Sophie, loves 'em!

Annie

Hmm, I will have to save carrot tops for DD’s rats. I sometimes fry and eat them (carrot tops, not rats).

Well, I am certainly glad you clarified that, John! (grin)

Annie

Every few years I spring for a large pack of really expensive, pelleted carrot seeds from Johnny's. They sweeten with time and store for almost a year. I used the last of them in dog food in July. I plant them in a wide row with trickle tape down the middle and they usually do well. The last couple of years, though, they haven't liked the prolonged heat we had. Sat for a month and didn't grow. Short carrots this year. The tops get thrown out for the deer.

I don't like cooked carrots much. I put them is soups, stews and pot roast because you're supposed to ,but would rather munch a good raw carrot. I do make a few jars of pickled, a decent carrot-ginger soup and carrot cake. Remember Copper Pennies?

I think this is the best place to tell about my Thanksgiving surprise. I was making a dish of crudités to go with the guacamole, and took a bunch of carrots out of the root drawer. They were lovely little baby rainbow carrots, but with no purple, red or yellow. Just orange and white. I was really tired and didn't notice anything in particular while I was scrubbing, but they all seemed normal. I take the tops off when I'm putting them away, for use elsewhere, but they were as they arrived, otherwise.

Anyway, I scrubbed them, topped them, cut off the trailing ends and cut them in thirds, then put them in the dish with the other veg. It wasn't until then that I put a scrap of the white into my mouth. ::sputter:: ::honk::: ::huh:: !!!

That's no carrot! Not a baby carrot nor an odd carrot nor a mutant carrot! It dawns on me that there were tiny clues in the carroty shape and color which I had overlooked by my assumptions. This was no duckling of a carrot! Nor even a swan! It was was a parsnip! They all, all the white ones, were parsnips. Not Floral's UK sweet parsnips, but California pungent and spicy parsnips!! In my bunch of "rainbow" carrots!!!! I'm all for societal inclusion, and I'm not one to shut out parsnips from the kitchen, but they are not good raw, even as babies, and they don't pair with guacamole!

“Remember Copper Pennies?”

Sure do! My mom made them fairly often.

Coming late to this conversation, and I don't have a lot to contribute! But oh well, y'all will just have to indulge my need to add comments to this.

Up until quite recently, the only carrots I could buy at the grocery store, any grocery store, were the one or two pound packages; the "baby" carrots, and "organic" with the tops.

HEB started offering loose "bulk" carrots a couple of years ago that are big ol' fat carrots. I love those! They taste better, and I can buy one carrot or however many I need instead of a whole bag.

Depending on my need, being a single person, even one of those big-fat carrots might be too much. But at least I'm no longer stuck with a whole bag to use up.

And that concludes my two cents' worth. :)

Carrots are so effervescent, talented, and versatile. They can be simmered to sweet softness to vie with potatoes and slow-cooked beef as comfort food, spiralized to a tasty noodle in a sauce just like pasta, grated for a cheery garnish on hippie food, battered and tempura'd, deep-fried into chips and carrot fries, mashed and creamed, even chomped raw like Mr. Bugs. They can be rounds, quarters, thin-sliced, batons, diced. Their keep their bright orange color when cooked.

Compare to the one-dimensional broccoli, lugubrious turnip, retiring radish . . . verily, all hail the carrot.

Annnnnd now I think it's time for a new "Speaking of" thread? Back in post #1, a month ago, I said

"You get the idea. We are trying to restart the old “Cookalong” threads, but in this permissive age, we needn’t confine ourselves to just recipes. This is a call for All Things Carrots - including of course favorite recipes!

Later I’ll post about how we will hopefully keep these “Speaking of . . .” threads going (hint: does not involve me starting each new thread). But for now, let’s Speak Of Carrots."

Anyone have a food, spice, condiment, ingredient, maybe even cooking device or technique, that would be fun and informative for us to discuss?

Go for it, start the next "Speaking of" thread!

At my wonderful local East Bay grocery store, BerkeleyBowl (which has been written up in the NYT several times because the produce is so fantastic) I buy Nantes carrots. I love carrots for all the reasons John mentioned, and I think these are a cut above.

seagrass_gw Cape Cod

I'm late posting this recipe - it was hiding in the bottom of my recipe box and I just found it today. I hope someone will see it and decide to give it a try. It's from Gourmet or Bon Appetite, probably early 90's as part of a Thanksgiving menu. I have easily cut the recipe in half. It's quite good and makes a nice change from the usual suspects at the holidays.

Sweet Potato and Carrot Puree (14 servings - easily halved. Can be prepared a day ahead and rewarmed in a pot over low heat).

4 lbs. red-skinned sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 2" pieces

2 lbs. carrots, peeled, cut into 1" pieces

2 Tbsp. golden brown sugar

8 Tbsp. (1 stick) butter

1 cup crème fraîche

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Cook potatoes and carrots in large pot of boiling salted water until very tender, approx. 25 mins. Drain and return to the pot. Add sugar, 2 Tbsps. butter, cook until all almost liquid evaporates, stirriing occasionally, about 5 minutes. Mix in 6 Tbsps. butter, crème fraîche and ground cloves. Using an immersion blender, puree mixture, seasoning to taste with salt & pepper.

I think Berkeley Bowl is the Eighth Wonder of the World! It’s a bit far from where I mostly lived and usually stay in Berkeley (Northside by Albany), but right where the kids used to go to school (Ecole Bilingue) so BB used to be where we got all our produce. Nowadays I go to Monterey Market, close to where we usually find ourselves and not as overwhelming - if MM is like worshipping at your local church or mosque, BB is like worshipping at Notre Dame de Paris or the Haga Sofia, but I’m easily overwhelmed whilst shopping, SWMBO has no such weakness - but still dozens of varieties of things and chock full of old Berkeley afflu-hippie vibe.

I grew up in Berkeley, and remember (in the early 60’s) walking over to Monterey Market from my middle school to meet my mom (a foodie before the term existed) where she’d be shopping. So glad it’s still there- it’s such a great place for produce, too! I always stop by when in that neighborhood. Every time I shop at BB I feel fortunate, I gotta say. I remember when it first opened, in an actual bowling alley- hence the name. My mother taught me a whole strategy for shopping there efficiently in that bizarre layout, lol. I’ll add that I share your Francophilia:)

Apparently in the eastern states of Australia, the major supermarket chains did a deal with carrot farmers and they're giving away free reindeer carrots for Christmas :-)

6-7 years ago i used this vintage image as gift tags. Sent me down a rabbit hole about the history...

History of carrots

The history of carrots is hazy, but it can be probably traced back to ancient Persia, where purple and yellow varieties were grown. Three thousand years ago, these early carrots were prized for their sweet, earthy flavor and were used as a popular medicinal herb. In fact, carrots may have been initially aromatic leaves and seeds rather than their roots, much in the sense that some of the carrots’ relatives (like parsley or coriander) are used today.

link...carrots were originally purple, not orange

Carrots are one of the easiest crops to grow. Given the correct room to grow and thinning if too close...i fail to do most seasons. Seeds are small and need time to germinate. I cover with wide boards down the row to prevent spring rains from washing them away.

I purchased this year locally. 2 pounds in october and 6 pounds just before thanksgiving.

The Black Dirt Region is considered one of the most fertile soils globally.

Spouse is from Hong Kong and grew up with a stepfather who is British/Chinese....I will have to blame the latter for Spouse's love of carrots cooked until they're soft and mushy, LOL.

We are very fond of making a Vietnamese rice vermicelli salad bowl in hot weather. I make fresh cucumber and carrot pickles to top it. It's easiest for me to just shred the carrots so I use a box grater.

I have a recipe for a curried carrot-cashew dip that I haven't used in decades - I might have lost it, in fact - but it was very yummy. An old Sunset Magazine recipe, back when magazines actually tested their recipes!

"Carrots are one of the easiest crops to grow."

I'm afraid that simply isn't the case for everyone. It depends very much on your soil and climate. That's why carrots are farmed in certain parts of the country and not others. Also why there are so many questions about getting carrots to germinate. If they are easy for you, you are very lucky. I have been growing vegetables for many decades and have never managed to grow a single decent carrot on my allotment. I would need to move my veg patch several miles away to a different soil and aspect.

Yes, i remember you have trouble and should have said @John Liu. (what i meant). He mentioned they grew but were tiny. His raised beds are new this past year. We have similar climates so he should be able to grow full size or look for short varieties. Give them the room they need or thin once established.

I have a top ten 'easy grows' and many 'no grows' and now don't bother with those crops.

We focus on high value crops. Things we like that tend to be higher cost at the markets.

Planning next seaon this past weekend, i will add a few more carrot varieties, some non-red beets and radish.

I do the same. I can get excellent carrots from a market gardener. Some reliable crops for me are lettuces, herbs, runner and fava beans, asparagus, kales, chicory, plums and berries. All best freshly picked.

I have gardened for more years than I want to count and carrots are a waste of time and money for me. Cabbage is another no go.

Tomatoes, peppers, any beans, any squash, green onions, herbs, etc.

My most successful is Brown Turkey fig.

I have no idea about optimum carrot growing, but when I was little, my mother found us a little area of empty soil in the garden—I mean about 1’x3’ or so, and we planted carrots and corn. Both grew. They were harvested while still small, but they grew. Moderate climate, amended soil. So they must grow somewhere besides agribusiness! I'm fascinated by Floral's ”several miles” to better growing conditions (soil and aspect). Here, we have a zillion subclimates, but growing areas are pretty similar soil for 100 miles, if I understand correctly, and it's the weather that's very different block by block, mile by mile.

Soils can vary within a few meters. Farmers know which areas even of individual fields have the best soils. I'm sure the same is true in the USA. Even on my allotment site the soil is better on the allotment uphill from mine. It's lighter and gets more sun earlier in the year since it's not so shaded by buildings. My allotment is at the bottom of a slope. The soil is heavier and in winter the sun is at a very low angle on the east facing slope shaded by buildings. Commercially carrots are usually grown in open conditions on light, deep soils.

I don't doubt you, but some of this is a disconnect on word use and meaning. I understand your explanation. Thank-you!