Days to Maturity: 65 from direct sow

Fuerte Hybrid is out to make this season’s carrot crop your best ever. A Nantes type with blunt-tipped, straight orange roots, it’s ideal for canning or freezing because the fruit is so uniformly sized. But most of all, it’s delicious fresh from the warm earth, with a crisp bite and satisfying sweet flavor.

Renowned for its strong top growth, Fuerte reaches up to 2 feet above ground, and 6 to 9 inches below. Harvest these carrots when the shoulders, poking out of the soil, are anywhere from 1 to 2 inches in diameter. They will be straight as soldiers, easy to cut into rounds because they don’t taper, and simply delicious.

Higher in vitamins A and B than their store-bought counterparts, homegrown carrots are also rich in calcium and phosphorus. Nature’s perfect snack, they hold well after harvest, and can remain in the ground a few extra weeks in cool weather.

Carrot seeds are best