The most temperamental vegetable. It grows when it wants, it grows short when when it wants, it grows funny shapes when it wants. Almost to the point of why bother to grow them. The soil has to be perfect, the moister in the soil has to be perfect to germinate, and one nibble from a varmint and its game over. I chose to grow them because Morgan Bradley said so.

And she was right. The tricks she gave me last year at Grow Your Own worked!!!! With her encouragement, head shaking, kind words, I told ya so’s I would not have tried carrots again this year. But Now in Grow your own year 2 I have four different carrots poking up as of April 26, 2025. I think they germinated well, I think I will bring them to market, I think I will be able to put up enough for my family, I know I can at least feed our pet bunny and give to our pony.

So all is well. Very well, with the help from Lisa at ASD with her added carrot and many other vegetable growing suggestions, Morgan’s encouragement, and Ben Casteel’s encouragement. Without their teamwork of great advice, valuable products, and great plants, I would not have followed my dream of being an organic farmer.

My husband and I started C&A farms to grow good healthy organic food for people. To have kids come up using Kids bucks, their own money, buy a bunch of carrots, bite into a carrot and have their face light up light as Christmas tree is all worth it.

Morgan, Lisa, and Ben at ASD make it possible, and its all about the carrots.

Thank you to the amazing, ambitious, astonishing Andrea for her blog post!

Andrea, like myself, is from the Midwest where the soil, climate, and topography are much different than our corner of Virginia. She has been a great asset to ASD and the Grow Your Own program, as well as a great asset to the community. Andrea is involved in numerous community events including providing chair yoga classes for older folks in rehab centers and working with the local library!

We are so grateful to have Andrea and her husband Christopher in the Grow Your Own program. Their farm is certainly a sight to behold, with a beautiful contemplation garden, horses, babydoll sheep, turkeys, and more. They are committed to true regenerative growing – installing native flower gardens along with their seasonal vegetables and happy animals.

This is shaping up to be a very exciting year in Grow Your Own!

-Morgan Bradley