May 18: I planted the seeds that I found among my husband's gardening things.
June - July: I believed in that children's book about The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss, illustrated by Crockett Johnson. First published in 1945, it's continuously been in print, which is an amazing thing for a children's book because these days, many never go beyond the first printing. I watered, I pulled up weeds around it, and I was pleased when the carrot tops came up just like in the book.
August: The swallowtail butterfly caterpillars discovered the beautiful green tops and had a feast -- but I couldn't remove them because they offered such beautiful photo opps. Beside, I had a whole row of these beautiful green tops.
September: I had no idea when to dig them up because unlike other vegetables I was trying to grow, you can't see the roots. My friend dug up hers and had nice fat chunky carrots so I dug up one -- and it was tiny. After talking to friends-who-garden (this was my first experimental effort) I learned I should have prepared the soil by adding better quality soil and various "amendments" and loosened it so the carrots would have someplace to grow.
October - November: No more growth. The green tops are starting to wilt from the cold.
December: I finally dug up the entire row of carrots so I could do what @domenicododoaro 's wife had taught me, which is to add coffee grounds and eggshells to the soil all winter.
And here it is -- my entire carrot crop. The white Cuisinart prep plate is approximately the size of a dinner plate so as you see, the carrots are any and not edible (except the two larger ones that are too small to peel but at least you could taste carrot). But hey, it's photo-story-worthy so here it is, my entire carrot crop that took almost six months to grow.
The very first record (LP) I listened to as a child included a telling of The Carrot Seed. I think I could still recite it 60 years later! (Good for you planting the crop.
I do a lot of work on my soil, but tend to plant mine too close together. I end up with big one and tiny ones and some all wrapped around each other. I don't consider the little ones duds. I just throw them in the stew whole. It's always exciting at dinner time when you discover a whole carrot in your spoon.
I love the way you displayed your little guys.