Carrots were first grown medicinally and were the first vegetable canned commercially. Originally, carrots were purple or red, not the usual orange so prevalent in Western markets today. The orange carrot was developed by the Dutch in the 1500's. Carrots are part of the world's culture, showing up in everything from classic art to great literature to pop music. Today, two corporations control 90 percent of the carrots grown in CA, the state dominating US carrot production, while China remains the world's top producer of carrots. I was amazed recently when I realized how little I know about a vegetable I eat almost daily.
A Giant Carrot on "Lost in Space" In the 1960's, the sci-fi TV show "Lost in Space" featured a giant carrot that attacked Dr. Smith for "murdering," when he picked a flower. According to the "Carrot Museum,", after that episode aired, "millions of American children feared carrots...and also ran around the house waving their arms shouting "Moisture! Moisture! I need moisture!" whenever they were thirsty! The Arrogant Worms, echo the giant carrot's sentiment as they sing, "Carrot Juice constitutes murder (V8's genocide) Greenhouses prisons for slaves (yes your compost's a grave) It's time to stop all this gardening (take up macrame) Let's call a spade a spade..."
Carrot Geography According to P.W.Simon, at the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture website, purple and yellow carrots originated in Afghanistan in approximately 900 AD, and spread to Eastern Europe by 1000AD. By the 1300's, purple and yellow carrots were introduced into China and Western Europe, the orange carrot was introduced in the 1500's from the Netherlands, and yellow carrots were in Japan by the 1600's. By the 1700's, white carrots joined the mix in Europe.
The Color of Carrots Although orange carrots now predominate the worldwide carrot markets, purple, red, white, and other colored carrots are now becoming more popular in local farmers' markets in the U.S., and other regions. Reportedly the purple carrots grow well in soils in Afghanistan, but can become mushy and even "melt" in some U.S. soils, so it has taken some effort to branch out the colors of carrots in regions outside the Middle East, but now they are produced worldwide in Russia, Japan, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Tasmania, Italy, Germany, Australia, the UK, China, the U.S....The U.S. grows approximately 875,000 tons of carrots yearly and carrots are the 9th most lucrative crop in the US. Many things alter color in carrots. For instance, cold temperatures reduce color and sunlight increases color, so Fall and Winter carrots are less colorful. Excessive water can wash out carrot color as well. Additionally, different colored carrots have different attributes. Orange and purple carrots are high in Vitamin A, yellow carrots can help the heart, black carrots are used as a food coloring and fabric dye, and white carrots have the least nutritional value.
Use in Cosmetics: Good for Skin Carrots are often used in cosmetics, from lotions to shampoos and mouthwashes. Carrots help skin tissues heal and also have a moisturizing effect. You can make a carrot facial by steaming 2 large carrots, then mashing them with 4 ½ T. honey, and applying this to your face, then wait 10 minutes and rinse off. "Burt's Bees" sells carrot lotions, cremes, and soaps. And the Carrot Museum has a carrot soap recipe at http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/soap.html. Carrots also have an antiseptic value.
As Food Carrots last from 1-2 weeks in the refrigerator in a plastic bag; after that time they lose their vitamin content by one half or more. You can freeze carrots once they are blanched in boiling water, and you can pickle carrots. Carrot juice is a sweet, nutritious drink when freshly made (canned carrot juice is nothing like fresh). You can dry carrots by slicing them, then laying them out on a cookie sheet, not touching each other, in the sun. Turn over regularly. You can also make carrot flakes by drying grated carrots, or you can make a carrot powder to add to soups, etc. by using a blender to grind the dried carrots into a powder. You can also make carrot chips by slicing peeled, fresh carrots into small pieces, then tossing them with some oil, and roasting them in a pan at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or so.
Carrots and Holidays In December, many European children put food, including carrots and sugar cubes, for Santa Claus' horses/reindeer in their shoes at night and find the food replaced by gifts in the morning. In France, Pere Noel feeds his donkey carrots left out by children in their shoes, and leaves presents, as well. In September, the Sunday before Michaelmas is called "Carrot Sunday" in Scotland. Women pick carrots for the feast day, and the eve of St. Michael's feast day is called "the eve of bringing in the carrots." Carrots have been given to newlyweds historically as fertility symbols and children worldwide use carrots as noses when making snowmen. February 3 is National Carrot Cake Day in the U.S.
Carrots and Music There are several musicians incorporating carrots into their act. The Vienna Vegetable Orchestra performs music on different vegetables, such as carrot flutes, pumpkin basses, leek violins, celery bongos, etc. They claim to have a desire to infiltrate every philharmonic orchestra in the world, and say they do not like performing in a comedy context. Flute 'n Veg explain their carrot instrument technique online, and The Wyld Men give step by step, illustrated instructions for making a carrot flute. The Wyld Men call their vegetable instruments "precycling" as they use the food as an instrument before eating it. You can buy a CD of The Wyld Men's "Veggie Music" online.
Paper and Dyes from Carrots Carrots are used for their fiber in papermaking, and also to make rope, fabric, etc. You can make paper from the tops of carrots, or get really creative, such as not only making the paper out of carrot fiber, but including pieces of carrots in the actual paper. Carrots are also used as a dye. You can dye Easter eggs orange by burying hard boiled eggs in a pile of grated orange carrots and letting them sit for a while. You can try different colored carrots for different hues, for instance, try grated purple carrots. Fabric dyeing is most commonly done with black or purple carrots, but you can use any carrot root, as well as the leaves, or both, to dye fabrics.
Carrot and Stick Approach The saying, "using a carrot on a stick," is based on the concept of leading a donkey along with a carrot dangling in front of his nose on a stick. In this context, saying you are using the "carrot and stick approach" or "carrot on a stick approach" usually implies that you are placating someone with somewhat of an illusory reward, that they may or may not actually ever get. It has an air of deception or manipulation to it, and also the situation warrants a servitude position of the one who is being led on by the carrot, or else the person with the carrot would just give the carrot freely without using it on the end of a stick. Many authorities claim that the saying as "stick and carrot" also had a punishment aspect to it, for when the mule did not move towards the carrot on the stick, then he would be beaten by the stick.
Redheads as "Carrot Tops" I was often called "carrot top" as a child due to my bright orange hair. I would have loved this t-shirt, that says, "Carrot tops are green, Einstein," when I was a kid.
Carrot Festivals There are carrot festivals in Turkey, New Zealand, the U.S., France, Canada, Switzerland.
Carrots in Literature Carrots are immersed in our heritage as well. References to carrots appear in the literature of Frank L. Baum (Wizard of Oz), Jack London, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Virginia Woolf, Mark Twain, George Eliot, Beatrix Potter, Louisa May Alcott, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, George Orwell, Mahatma Gandhi, Hippocrates, Voltaire, Pliny the Elder, Paul Cezanne, and more. Carrots also appear in Yiddish, Polish, and Irish proverbs. Carrots have made it into the comics with DC Comics' "Captain Carrot". There is an Irish Proverb that says, "Never bolt your door with a boiled carrot."
Carrot Facts Other members of the carrot family include celery, fennel, and parsley. One of the longest carrots ever recorded, in 1996, came in at a whopping 17 feet long and in 1998, a carrot was recorded as weighing nearly 19 pounds. Eating cooked carrots released more of the vitamin content for ready absorption than eating them raw. Howard Hughes supposedly measured every carrot he ate. Blackswallow butterflies are attracted to carrots. Roasted carrots have been used as a coffee substitute. Only beets have a higher sugar content than carrots in the natural veggie kingdom.
Kirsten Anderberg. All rights reserved. For permission to reprint/publish, please contact Kirsten at kirstena@resist.ca.
Kirsten Anderberg. All rights reserved. For permission to reprint/publish, please contact Kirsten at kirstena@resist.ca.