Carrots and Queen Anne's Lace ... can you tell the difference? I am not quite fully educated on the "weed" known as Queen Anne's Lace but I can usually tell which is which before pulling up the root. I put the word weed in quotes because not everyone thinks of it as undesirable and it is edible. I personally consider it a weed that has cleverly disguised itself as a carrot (greens look the same but the root itself looks like parsnip).
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| L to R: Q.A.L., Parsnip, Carrots |
But it is not so much a disguise as it is an actual carrot. From what I've read, domestic carrots are a cultivar of this wild carrot. I used to think how amazing nature is that a weed looking just like carrots happens to grow among carrots (like some brilliant defense mechanism hoping the bunnies will nibble on the weeds instead). Since the carrot seeds (if I understand it correctly) have been cultivated over years from this wild carrot, then I guess the wild carrots are likely coming from the same seeds as some sort of hybrid??
With this weeks harvest, I've added another 5 lbs of carrots (shown above) and that's the last carrot harvest for the season. Other harvests include more peppers, some Delinel beans and a batch of basil that was made into pesto and frozen for later use.
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| King of the North, Xanthia |
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| K of the N, Hungarian Hot Wax, Gypsy peppers |
And a new harvest this week ... apples! These are Haralson apples, and the first time the tree has produced any. The tree was here when I moved in a few years ago and I was actually considered removing the tree as I wasn't sure it would ever produce. Good thing I waited! I only got three pounds but good enough for some apple crisp.
I also had another (4 lb) Hale's Best Melon which went to a friend. While dehydrating the latest harvest of chocolate cherry tomatoes, I finally got around to grinding up the Feher Ozon peppers for a paprika. I added some to another batch of squash mac 'n cheese and I LOVED IT! The paprika smells wonderful and was a great addition to the dish. The photo below shows three trays worth of peppers after dehydration and just before I ground them.
Please stop on by at Our Happy Acres to see what other gardeners are doing this week with their own harvests!
Interesting info about the Queen Anne's lace. I do think the fresh ground paprika is pretty amazing too!
ReplyDeleteDave@OurHappyAcres
Beautiful bunches of carrots, and an interesting comparison to QAL. I've never actually eaten one, but might try!
ReplyDeleteNice carrot harvest. I dried my paprika peppers but have yet to grind them. I will have to try that soon.
ReplyDeleteCarrots have a fascinating (to me) history, apparently they all started as white or purple, then a purple one mutated to make a yellow one, then yellow ones were selected to end up with the fairly modern and ubiquitous orange carrots. Check out the Carrot Museum in the UK, they have a ton of information about carrots.
ReplyDeleteYum, fresh ground homegrown paprika, it's amazing.
Lovely carrots and peppers...what what I'm most envious of are those apples - they look perfect! Can't wait to harvest some from my trees - I'm still not sure if I'll be picking any next year or if I'll have to pinch off those buds so that the roots have more time to get established.
ReplyDeleteLovely harvests, those apples look especially delicious! Interesting comparison between the carrots, parsnip and queen anne's lace.
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