[ddsack]

Lisa, I generally plant in late May or even early June, only because I have to wait and see what space is leftover after my tomatoes go in. I don't see how I can get more than one larger rooted crop in my growing season. I like my carrots on the big side, because I'm not patient when it comes to scrubbing a lot of little carrots for a meal.

I leave them in the ground until just before the ground freezes. They are of good eating size by September, may have a small meal or two earlier. I may have given them another shot of top dressing fertilizer granules once later in the summer when I was doing the tomatoes, I don't remember for sure. The sandy raised beds are almost impossible to over water, they drain so fast. My main task is just keeping the carrot bed from drying out, especially the first half of the season when they are still small. During the heat of the summer, I hand water my carrot and lettuce patches almost every day, unless it rains. I found a mister head for my watering wand that doesn't knock over the frail seedlings.