Chantenay carrots are short, stout carrots with light orange flesh and orange-red colored cores. They mature in 65-75 days to 4- to 5-inch (10-13 cm.) long and 2- to 2 ½-inch (5-6.5 cm.) thick roots. Introduced in 1929, Chantenay carrots are commercially grown for canned and processed carrots because of their high yields. The carrots can be eaten fresh, frozen, or canned. Chantenay carrots can be eaten raw or cooked, with their taste usually described as sweet and crisp. However, they may become coarse and tough when grown past maturity, specifically in the heat of summer. Like all carrots, Chantenay carrots are high in carotene and fiber.
Carrots are best sown direct in the soil as they do not transplant well. Choose an open, sunny space in your veggie patch. Never add fresh manure when sowing carrots as it will cause them to fork, and encourage leafy growth (rather than root growth, which is what you’re really after!). You can however add well rotted manure the previous autumn to the area where you will grow carrots. Dig the bed well during the autumn to make sure there is at least a foot of good friable soil – compacted soil equals stunted carrots. Apply a general purpose organic fertiliser (such as chicken manure pellets) about two weeks before sowing.