According to our green-thumbed friend, Natasha, from The Sage Garden…  ‘The humble carrot is up for discussion with any gardener. Filling Instagram feeds with weird and wonderful shapes and sizes, carrots sure have a knack for catching our attention. In my opinion, nothing beats the taste of a homegrown carrot but they do have the reputation for being tricky. One of the biggest things going for the carrot is that they be harvested all year and have a good yield for a small amount of space.

Don’t buy your carrots as seedlings. They are painful to plant out and they don’t love being transplanted. Sow your carrots from seed. There are fantastic varieties available at all local nurseries, heirloom yellow, purple, white, round balls and of course the classic Bugs Bunny (they’re not called that). I find the best way sow the seed is to make little rows, not too deep, and then sprinkle the seeds along the rows and cover with a little soil. Once the carrots have germinated and the stalks are around 7cm tall, you can thin out the seedlings so that each carrot has enough room to grow. A good rule of thumb is to use your thumb, one thumb between each seedling (can you use the word thumb too many times in a sentence?)

…Carrots are also an annual, which means they are a one hit wonder. One seed. One carrot. Give your carrots a wash, give yourself a pat on the back and enjoy.’