Bounty of the Harvest 2010, Part 2 - The Carrot.

It was good to be a root in the garden this year. Most of the "above-the-ground" vegetation was blown to smithereens by a devastating hail storm in August.

I think I managed to dig 15 to 20 kg of the orange (and a couple of yellow) taproots out of the dirt this year.

Now for your...

Little Known Facts About Carrots:

Mel Blanc, beloved voice of Bugs Bunny, didn't like carrots.

The world record for longest carrot is 5.839 m or 19 feet 1 7/8 inches.

The heaviest carrot ever recorded: 8.61kg or 18.96 pounds.

Beta-carotene is the pigment in carrots that gives them the orange colour. In the presence of bile salts in the stomach, beta-carotene is converted to Vitamin A.

Eaten raw, only 3 percent of a carrot's beta-carotene is released during digestion. 39 percent is released if you cooked them before eating...

Daucus carota, or the wild carrot is thought to be indigenous to Afghanistan.

China produces a third of the world's carrot supply. No other country comes close. Good job my bruthas...

The first Western variety of carrots first appeared in the Netherlands in the 17th C. Dutch nobleman William I, Prince of Orange (aka William the Silent or Willem van Oranje) organized the Dutch revolt against Spanish imperialists back in the day. Dutch people love orange carrots... Are you still with me people? Did you follow that logic?

Sources: The Carrot Museum, Wikipedia.