Serious question, a guy at the Jasper County fair looked at my lumpy carrots and said I was pulling them too late, and the flavor proves him right

Elizabeth Taylor · 2026-10-19T13:50:04.875698+00:00

So I've been growing carrots for about 5 years now and they always came out stubby and split and weird looking. I figured that was just how it goes in my clay soil and I was fine with it because they still tasted way better than store ones. Well last month I entered a few in the veggie contest at the fair down in Jasper County, mostly as a joke, and this old guy judging leans over and pokes one and goes "these sat in the ground three weeks too long, that's why they split and went woody." I kind of brushed it off at first. But then he had me bite into one raw right there and yep, it was tough and a little bitter. So I pulled my whole fall patch about two weeks earlier than I used to, and wow. Still ugly, still forked and bent from the clay, but they are sweet and crunchy and my kid actually eats them now instead of feeding them to the dog. Anyway if your root veggies taste off, try pulling earlier than you think. Has anyone else had a judge or neighbor call out your timing like that?

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Serious question, a guy at the Jasper County fair looked at my lumpy carrots and said I was pulling them too late, and the flavor proves him right | Crappy Garden Winners - Topic Shares