I have an interesting problem. I have a carrot that is somewhat disfigured. It is near the top where it has developed these weird ball looking things. It looks like the same color and configuration as the carrot. I planted it last spring and am in the process of letting it go to seed. Anyone had anything similar? Anyone know the cause of this? As far as I can tell all my other carrots and root crops are normal.

Someone here can probably tell you for sure, but as I recall it's a result of unbalanced nutrients and/or some little microscopic pest.

I have had several interesting carrots over the years and get quite a kick out of them. One resembled a woman from the waist down, buttocks and all. Others have resembled the opposite gender. These oddities rarely make it to my boiling pot, they are too funny to destroy. But the shape doesn't alter the taste at all. We have fun with them.

You'll get, er "I" got my cleanest straightest (and biggest) carrots from a sifted bed that was one full year out from the last time it was manured.

I used a 3/8" hardware cloth sifter to a depth of 12"

Hi Redfox,
I usually don't have much advise to give, but I have learned from experience that if you plant carrots in a bed following okra, your carrots will be big and tasty.
Okra seems to have a "pulverizing" effect on the soil, which turns ou to be good for carrots. And the best carrot I have ever tried is "Touchon".

The little critters causing your developmentally challenged carrots is the root nematode. There's stuff you can get from Gardens Alive! that will help with this problem.

I just tend to ignore it and rotate crops. Besides, it's fun to see what strange shaped things develop.

I had a lot of trouble with root knot nematode until I read that california poppies emit a chemical that will get rid of them, and it works!

I have poppies all over my yard now and when they are finished blooming I either pull them or just wack them off at the ground. You need the root to be there and near what ever crop has had the nemetode trouble.

Some great advice. Thanks. The funny thing is it has only appeared in one carrot that I can tell so far. I haven't dug them all up. Just the ones I needed to transplant for seed. Gee I hope they're all the same variety. I forgot what I planted last time and my markers washed off so who knows what I'll end up with. I have some poppies around though I'll have to try some of those in with my carrots.