Bright orange, fine-grained roots with a crisp, juicy texture and sweet flavor make Scarlet Nantes a favorite carrot for snacking and lunch boxes. The nearly coreless, 6 in. carrots are orange throughout and grow straight and smooth with blunt ends—in just nine weeks.
Nantes carrots are small to medium in size, averaging 15-20 centimeters in length and 2-5 centimeters in diameter, and are cylindrical in shape with blunt, rounded ends on both the stem and non-stem end. The straight roots have smooth, firm skin that ranges from bright orange to orange-red and are connected to long, edible, leafy greens that bear a grassy, vegetal flavor. Underneath the surface, the flesh is also orange, fine-grained, crisp, and juicy with little to no core. Nantes carrots are crunchy and tender with a mild, sweet taste.
Applications
Nantes carrots are best suited for both raw and cooked applications such as roasting, steaming, baking, grilling, and boiling. When raw, the root does not need to be peeled before consumption and can be used on appetizer plates with dips, sliced and tossed into salads, juiced, or blended into sauces. In cooked preparations, Nantes carrots are used as a base for soups and stews, lightly sautéed in stir-fries, or roasted to enhance their sweet flavor and coated in brown butter. The roots can also be smoked as a vegetarian hot dog or shredded and baked into carrot cakes and carrot puddings. Nantes carrots pair well with orange juice, honey, herbs such as cilantro, parsley, tarragon, thyme, rosemary, coriander, and dill, spices such as cardamom, cumin, ginger, fennel, curry, and cinnamon, dried apricots, onions, celery, tomatoes, and meats such as poultry, beef, and pork. The roots will keep up to one month when stored in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator.
Type |
Carrots |
Family |
Parsley Family |
Temperature Soil |
50-75F |
Temperature Daytime |
60-65F |
Temperature Evening |
45+F |
Lighting |
Full Sun, 6-8 Hours/Day |
Water |
Heavy, 6 Gallons/Week |
Maturity |
Moderate, 65-85 Days Harvest |
PH Neutral |
5.5-7.0 |
Zones |
4A-10B |
Plant Placement |
20 Plants, 4 Per Row |