***Tuesday's Tip***

Ok Tuesday's Tip is a day late...but I was harvesting the carrots yesterday!  This is my LAST BIG outside job.  With what I did over the weekend and yesterday I can now make a new list! Woot! Woot!  I mean to blog more...but...this Is my first year blogging during  harvest, send a kid to college, way behind on Etsy, and need to add bookkeeping to my list, Autumn.  So NOW I hope to be more regular again!!!

Before Harvest (Kale in the foreground)

Carrot Harvesting Tips:

Pull your carrot on a cloudy dry day.  Leave them out in the garden before you pack them.  

Do NOT wash them before storage.

    

Get your boxes ready.  I found these Fish Boxes at Hamilton Marine, Searsport, Maine.  The work great and will stack inside each other for storage or flip them around and the stack on top of each other.  Then get your packing material ready.  I like dewy morning raked leaves.  I have tried a number of packing materials of over the years.  Wood chips were too drying, peat moss was too messy, sand was to heavy...but...leaves are juuuust right!  I have been using leaves for about 4 years with great success keeping my carrots until nearly spring and then I can just add them to the compost pile.  Leaves smell nice too.

A layer of leaves and then a layer of carrots.  I cut the tops off as near that carrot as possible without cutting the carrot.  My biggies are Scarlet Keepers and as their name suggests they keep well.  My skinnies are Nantes Half Longs, not the best keepers...if my son hadn't gone off to college there would have been none to harvest. (experimented today with shipping him some via priority mail...he is my carrot kid!)  The Nantes tops will snap right off but, the Scarlet's require a knife.  I sort out any weirdy or super small carrots to use first.   

I got done just as the rain started to fall!  Another layer of leaves..no cover just leaves and into the cold room they go!  We have an insulated cold room.  It is around 60 degrees right now but should cool down to 40ish by the end of the week ~~~ cold winds are coming!  

After all the carrotiness I feel a bit like a goofy carrot-actor....so time for some fun!

My favorite weirdy LOVE carrots of the bunch! 

Shel Silverstein 

 Natasha "Juice From a Carrot or Two"

CarroActer Cake

In a Bowl of Sanity
Add a Cup of Heartiness
a Cup of Wisdom
a Cup of Kindness
Two Drops of Tears  
And three Cups of Smiles

Mix Well Until Smooth

Add a Cup of Fate
a Cup of Compassion
And Two Cups of Passion

If It Feels Dry
Add Two More Drops of Tears
And Keep Mixing Without Fears

Then Gently Mix In
Two Cups of Sincerity
And a Cup of Attention

Mix Until It Sticks To the Bowl
And Until Foamy Peaks Form

Add a Cup of Strength
a Cup of Integrity
a Pinch of Doubt
And a Cup of Trust

a Pinch of Naivety
a Pinch of Bitterness
And a Pinch of Spice
Juice From a Carrot or Two
Be Very Careful
Not To Overdo

When It Feels Fluffy And Light
When It Tastes Pleasantly Right
Serve All Above
Generously Sprinkled
With Love

:) :) :)

~Natasha~

http://hellopoetry.com/words/carrot/poems/