- Veggies & More
#OfficeTalk - Carrots
As we have entered the new season we have been talking carrots... find out more about new and old season carrots and how best to store them.
Did you know that up until the 17th Century carrots were all in fact purple?!
Understanding the carrot season: British carrots are available in shops for nearly 12 months of the year. From mid-June when the new British carrot season begins right the way through to May.
Before farmers adopted their practices in the 1990’s carrots were predominantly a summer vegetable, however we are now fortunate to have them the majority of the year due to farmers putting their carrot crop ‘to bed’ over the winter months.
They do this by covering them with a thick layer of straw to protect them from the frost, an eco-friendly method of storage which keeps the crop fresh and ready for harvest throughout winter.
Between June and August you will find the new season carrots to be sweet, tender and aromatic with plenty of flavour packed into their skins.
New season carrots are more susceptible to warm temperatures so we experimented by keeping one in the fridge and one on our desk over night to see the difference.
The room temperature carrot became soft, limp and remarkably flexible while the refrigerated carrot remained very fresh and crunchy.
Older season carrots have had time to develop a stronger more robust core and are better suited to room temperature conditions.
We recommend storing new season produce in refrigerated conditions to prolong its shelf life.
[Additional Sources: http://britishcarrots.co.uk/the-carrot-year/]