Carrots and deer eating them

[Big-Al]

I left about a thirty feet wide row of carrots in the garden for storage. I have had great luck some years with this and not so great luck other years. Last year they froze hard with no snow, even being mulched. The garden is nice and dry so the conditions are great this year and hopefully we will get some snow soon. About half the row was danver's half long and the other half was tendersweet. The deer pawed off all the straw off the danver's and ate just about all of them. I bet they got was fifty pounds. I was able to salvage some. The tendersweet end had the straw pawed off in spots but the carrots were not touched. I dug some yesterday and they are beauties. Has anyone else seen this? I may have to go with just tendersweet next year.

[Dotch]

No wonder they can see so well! Something was starting to dig ours up (they were Nantes) back in October so I dug them. Wasn't sure as dry as it was if something was just after them for the moisture or what but I wasn't taking any chances. Wouldn't be surprised if there's something they like about one variety of carrots over another. We've seen it in corn test plots many times over the years where the deer will completely destroy one hybrid and leave the one next to it untouched. Same with raccoons.

[Big-Al]

If someone could develop a strain of corn that the racoons did not like and still have other good qualities it would be a gold mine.

[CANOPY SAM]

We've done the same thing with carrots for years, Big-Al. Left them in the ground until early winter when it starts to freeze hard.

The local deer herd has figured out where our gardens are, and when I turn off the fences after the harvest.

Last year we had a buck, doe, and her two fawns staying behind our place for a couple weeks. They literally dug up a 40 foot long, 12 inch wide row of Tendersweet carrots. These were beautiful carrots, and absolutely sweet and delicious. I'd venture they got at least 150 lbs of carrots!

I'm not surprised when they clip off all the tops, but to dig up the tuber itself, that one kind of surprised me. Pretty happy deer!

[Big-Al]

And I thought maybe I was on to something with the Tendersweet surviving the deer. I am going to take a chance and leave them in for another month and see what the deer leave me. I had some last night for supper and they are some of the best carrots I have ever had.

[fishkins]

Truly amazing how much better home grown sweet carrots are over store

bought, gotta wonder what they do to them to take the flavor out. Deer

are hard to figure, why they give you a pass one year and nail you the

next. They never bothered my Brussels sprouts for years, this year they

wiped me out.

[deerminator]

"Truly amazing how much better home grown sweet carrots are over store

bought, gotta wonder what they do to them to take the flavor out."

For one thing, you'd be amazed at how long some of the "fresh" produce you buy at the store has been in cold, oxygen free storage until the wholesalers decide release them to the stores. Same goes for "fresh" eggs. I get a kick out of their sell by date considering the months or even year or more its been since the hen laid them!