The carrot I planted in July produced nice seed heads. I brought them in and dried them, and raked the seeds out. Much to my surprise they were covered with little sharp hairs like little cactus pads. Do I need to get off that coating or can I plant them that way? Do they need to be frozen to be viable next year? I hope someone knows.

Nancy Bubel, in "The New Seed Starters Handbook",says you need to dry them for two weeks. She didn't mention anything about chilling them or removing the hairy stuff (probably there to protect the seeds from mice with munchies or to stick in their hair to ride to a new location). It was also noted that carrots can cross with Queen Anne's lace (a weed), so if you had it growing nearby, your seeds may not be good. I would just plant them in the spring and see what happens. I don't think the hairy stuff will interfere(nobody takes it off the wild carrots and they manage to grow.)

Thanks, I'll do that unless I hear different,

jazzieCo:
Be sure to mark the place where you plant the seeds from that carrot so you will know what happened. I always think "oh, I'll remember what I planted." Hah!

Popsicle sticks work ok, but mark both sides with a permanent marker because the Colorado sun will bleach the writing away. If it's on both sides maybe one side will remain legible. My husband made some wood stakes out of scraps about the size of big tent stakes. They are great for marking important things, (like garlic varieties) because they will survive the winter and not get lost. Then a little bit of sand paper erases them and they are ready to re-use.

Good luck. Carrots are so much fun: just green fronds and suddenly bright organge emerging from the dark soil.

Carrot seed needs to be fresh ... no good trying to grow last years - germination will be poor. I have heard many people say that they are encouraged by a night in the refridgerator.

Thanks Toadfriend, but I won't need to label them as only a danvers half long grows like a Danvers half long. And there is so much seed from just one plant that I will probably have to share, so I won't be planting any other carrots. I am hoping to save a carrot from next year to keep the whole thing going. Unfortunately, I have no Danvers for next year, as I planted Nantes this year and was very disappointed in them. Not nearly the yield and not as sweetly crunchy either.