Rainbow Carrots
Weird and Wonderful...carrots in many colours
Ever heard of rainbow carrots? No not your average orange carrot, but multi-coloured instead. History tells us that the original carrot emerged from Middle Asia around present-day Afghanistan at least 5,000 years ago. It spread slowly to the area of the Mediterranean and was probably white, yellow or purple. These original carrots were not used as a food source by the ancients, but were used for medicinal purposes. Were these ancient people wrong in thinking that carrots have health benefits? Apparently not…About 300 years ago, it was the Dutch growers who first selected and planted the carrot in patriotic Orange, the Dutch national colour and Royal Family House colour. Thus, these orange carrots were seventeenth century “designer” carrots! Growers took red and yellow carrots to create the orange root, just like using a paint box. Before then, carrots were purple, red, white, green, yellow, or black. You can buy rainbow carrot seeds online and are just as easy to grow as normal carrots. These odd carrots apparently don’t differ in taste too much compared to average orange carrots however are great to grow and look at. Our polytunnels are strong and great for growing crops throughout all seasons so why not give it a go this season just follow the link below.