Previously, I've
waited to dig our carrots until November, but this year I had a
reason to move sooner. Rye
did well last year as a late-planted cover crop, so I've
been pushing to find bare ground to finish up my 50-pound bag
before the end of rye-planting season (a few weeks after the first frost). Carrot
beds looked like perfect rye habitat, so out come the carrots and
in go the cover crops.
In case you're
curious, I only made it about halfway through my buckwheat
challenge, but I've already passed that mark in my bag of
rye. It's been a cool, wet year and the spot I most wanted
to improve was too waterlogged for buckwheat. Oh well ---
any extra organic matter is better than none.
Can you tell I got sidetracked less than a third of the way
through the carrot harvest and went to help Mark troubleshoot the
ATV? I'll dig the rest today (barring other pressing
projects) and stock the carrots away in the fridge
root cellar for the winter.