The Wonky Carrots That Tasted Better Than Shop Ones

Dave Osborn

Aug 4

2 min read

Updated: Aug 10

The Wonky Carrots That Tasted Better Than Shop OnesI thought I was rubbish at growing carrots. Proper rubbish.

My first lot came out looking like they’d been in a fight: forked, tiny, and one of them honestly looked like a leg. A little orange leg. I nearly put a sock on it.

Tisha took one look and went, ‘Don’t bother, Dave. Just buy them from the shop’

Then my mate chipped in with the classic: ‘Carrots need posh, stone-free soil.’ Like they’re off to private school.

But I’d grown them. Sort of. So I pulled them anyway.

We washed them in a bucket outside. The kids loved it because it was muddy and disgusting — basically a spa day for small people.

And then I did the thing you’re not meant to do… I ate one raw in the garden. Still a bit dirty. No fancy peeling. Just crunch.

And it tasted sweeter than any perfect, straight, shiny orange carrot from the shop. Sweeter than shop carrots. No contest.

Why your wonky carrots taste better

Shop carrots are bred to look perfect. Same shape, same size, same ‘I’ve never seen a stone in my life’ vibe.

Yours are grown slow in real soil, doing their best in the muck. No chemicals. And you eat them five minutes after picking — so the sugars are still there, not sat in a lorry having an identity crisis.