I planted some carrots too late in the season last year and they weren't ready to harvest in fall. I left them in ground out of laziness, no covering or anything, in zone 7b. I just figured I'd clean them up in spring. As I'm pulling them out, they look really good though! Any reason they shouldn't be eaten?
by NefariousLlamas
8 Comments
Primarily because you’d expect them to be woody and hard.
I’d let them go to seed.. Free seeds.
If they aren’t woody and you don’t want them for seed, they are perfectly fine to eat. We had a mildish winter where I am and I’ve been delighted to have fresh carrots to eat as I do my spring cleanup.
There is no health reason not to eat them! But there is a chance that the texture might be too tough. It depends on how harsh your winter has been.
I’m in 8b and I really like carrots that are left in the ground though winter! I find they stay tender and are actually sweeter than carrots that haven’t dealt with cool temperatures. But this only works well with a mild winter.
May as well try one and see! If you don’t like it, let it go to seed.
1 carrot can kick out a huge plant after winter and give you thousands of seeds, leave the healthiest looking couple and eat the rest.
I leave my through winter all the time, but we don’t get deep freezes, just surface frost, and few days below freezing maybe. A little snow that melts quickly. I eat them fresh out of the ground all winter; they get very sweet. By this time of spring, they are starting ti get a little bug-chewed. Damage is more the problem than flavour or texture, which is still pretty good. Decent enough for fresh eating, perfect for cooking. If they start re-growing significant tops, I might leave them for seed. Also, you will know if they got over-frozen because they end up sorta rubbery.
I found one I missed that overwintered & the center smelled off on mine. We only get about 2-3 days below freezing here though.
I let my carrots overwinter. As long as they aren’t bolting they’re still good. In fact, carrots can be sweeter after experiencing a frost since they use sugar as antifreeze. The longer they’re in the ground the bigger they’ll be too.