Are there green carrots?

Factual Questions
1

Mrs Piper is planning the spring planting and asked the PiperCub what he wants to plant this year.

His reply: “Green carrots”.

On further inquiry, he elaborated: “Green carrots. From Mars.”

I think the “from Mars” part clearly poses some problems, but I know carrots come in a variety of colours: orange, yellow and purple I’ve seen.

But green? normally that means they’re not ripe.

Are there fully grown, ripe, green carrots?

If so, where do I get me some seeds?

Follow-up question from Mrs Piper, looking over my shoulder: “are there any other unusual colours, like purple potatoes?”

2

Carrots come in many colors: File:Carrots of many colors.jpg - Wikipedia

green too: http://img.xcitefun.net/users/2011/07/256015,xcitefun-green-carrot.jpg

3

Do the different colors have different nutritional content?

-D/a

4

Thank you. I thought I had seen green carrots before, but was beginning to wonder if it was just a dream.

5

I just had an orange, yellowish, green, and purple carrot mix in my salad.
The nice thing is that, when you don’t know you take a bite and your tongue doesn’t match what your eyes see.
Taste is the same.

6

They look really unappetizing.

7

I can vouch for purple potatoes - I am having them for tea.
(and I have grown purple: podded peas, carrots, lettuce, corn, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, radishes, tomatoes and of course onions) Yes I have thing for purple.

Basically if you look at heritage varieties lots of veges come in different colours and shapes than we are used to.

I would suggest growing cauliflower romanesco : it is green and has a lovely outofthisworldly fractal shape.

8

Oh by the way - thanks for helping me to discover the World Carrot Museum: http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/history.html

9

Now I know.

10

I’m almost certain the green roots in your second link are radishes, not carrots.

I can’t actually find a single image of a truly green carrot variety. There are greenish-yellow ones, but all of the images of ‘green carrots’ I can find are of the Chinese ‘Green Carrot Radish’

11

And~ now I’m not certain.

12

Not for carrots, or pretty much root vegetables in general. Since they’re not fruit, there is no ripening, and baby carrots have the same taste and color as adult carrots. (Pensioner carrots are not as good though.)
Green in most root vegetables means they’ve been exposed to sunlight, and often those bits taste nasty. And in some cases it means they’re poisonous.

13

Not for carrots though.

(although the green, light-exposed tops of carrots are often tough)

14

Now I’m back to wondering if I ever saw green carrots or not.

Carrot tops are good for iguanas, if you know any.

15

Carrot tops are good for rabbits too.
the closest to a true green carrot I have found is: ‘Blanche a Collet Vert’ White & Green Carrot Carrot Vegetable Seeds to buy in the UK from The Real Seed Catalogue

16

I suppose you would know.:smiley:

Btw, what they show as green carrots are not very satisfyingly green; I think green carrots are pink elephants.

17

I managed to get some of my white carrots a nice half and half green - only because they were half out of the ground and sunlight had its effect. I might see if any are left n take a pic

18

I suppose you could always get some of the green radishes and tell him they are from mars.

19

Root vegetables hardly ever come in green colors, because the green is from chlorophyll & sunlight, which doesn’t happen underground.

20

I thought id seen an article somewhere suggesting that the translucent watery core of carrots acted as a sort of natural optical fibre, carrying light to underground parts of the root, but I can’t find anything ob the subject now. I don’t think it was for photosynthesis in the normal sense - might have been pert of some other photosensitive system.