Amarillo Carrots and Onions

Here are the pictures of my beautiful Amarillo Carrots. I cooked them along with some Cosmic Purple carrots last night in a little butter until the edges were slightly seared. Very yum and pretty. These carrots are a little stronger tasting than other carrots I have grown. All and all the carrots I've grown beat the taste of store bought carrots hands down. There is really no comparison. I find the carrots I grow at home get soft much quicker than store bought carrots. This really doesn't matter since they don't last very long in our house anyway!

In answer to questions regarding onions in zone nine. I'm still learning so much about how to grow onions myself. One aspect I'd like to understand a little better is short day vs. long day onions. I believe short day onions are better suited to our zone, although I'm really not sure. Last year I grew several really beautiful onions. They were used up so quickly that I planted quite a bit more this year.

Onions are biennials. They need two years to produce seed. Plant onions in the fall and harvest when the bulbs have formed and the greenery is slightly brown. Pull and allow to dry for a couple of weeks. In our hot climate it is not advisable to leave them outside to dry. The onions might get "sunburned" and then spoil during storage. The best bulbs can be replanted the next year to get seed. Most of this info I got from Suzanne Ashworth's book "Seed to Seed". A wonderful book every gardener should own.