The Best Time to Harvest Carrots For Delicious Flavor and the Perfect Crunch

Sweet, crunchy carrots are not only nutritious and delicious—they’re also a delight to harvest. “It’s like finding treasure!” says Marta Lynch, farm manager at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. “[Since] they’re underground and you don’t see them maturing, it’s very rewarding to pull these beautiful [vegetables] out of the ground.”

However, carrots can be a bit tricky to harvest. Unlike some fruits and vegetables, they don’t continue to ripen once they’re out of the ground; so, if you harvest them too early, you’ll get small, flavorless roots. If you wait too long, though, you’ll get woody, bitter bites. 

So, how do you know when your carrots are just right? Here's what to look for—plus, a few tips to help you grow your best bunch yet.

Signs of Ripeness

Unlike onions and potatoes, carrots don’t necessarily show clear signs that they’re ready to harvest. However, Andrew Koehn, a horticulturist who grows food for the restaurant at Scribner’s Catskill Lodge, knows a good trick. “I harvest carrots when the top of the root pokes through the ground,” he says. “That's the main, telltale sign of ripeness.”

You might also see bright green, healthy foliage. If it’s begun to yellow or flop over, that’s a good clue that the carrots are mature.

When to Harvest

The trick to harvesting carrots is to use the days to maturity estimate. “Days to maturity is the approximate number of days it will take a crop to be ready to harvest from a seedling or planting,” Lynch says. “When you're approaching this harvest date, you should check your carrots by pulling a few out of the ground to see if they’re sized up.”

Depending on the variety, most carrots have a days to maturity of 60 to 75 days from germination, when the seed sprouts from the ground—or roughly 9 to 10 weeks.

“In my personal experience,” Lynch adds, “carrots take about two to three weeks longer than the days to maturity that’s listed on the seed packet.” 

There are no carrot varieties that are hardier or easier to grow than others, but for taste, Lynch’s favorite varieties are Golden Nugget and Purple Haze, or the rainbow Glow Stix Moonrise Mix.

How to Harvest

When you’re ready to harvest your carrots, grab a broad garden fork and a pitchfork, or a trowel, and follow these steps.

Gauge the Size

Brush away a bit of soil around the top of one carrot to check its shoulder, or the top of the root. Most full-sized varieties are ready to harvest when the shoulders are about 3/4 to 1 inch in diameter.

Loosen the Soil

Use your tool of choice to break up the soil around the carrots. Lynch recommends leaving about six inches between your tool and the carrots, so you don’t accidentally damage them.

Pull Gently

Once the soil is broken up, use your hands to grab the carrots where the greens meet the root, and pull straight up while wiggling slightly. “When pulling, be sure to grab as close to the root as possible,” says Koehn. If you’ve loosened the soil sufficiently, the carrots should easily slip out of the ground.

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Trim the Tops

Remove the green foliage immediately after harvesting to help preserve the carrot’s moisture, flavor, and texture. If you don’t, the greens will continue to pull water and nutrients from the carrot, drying it out faster and sapping its sweetness and crispness. For best results, leave about a half-inch of the stem in place to avoid damaging the top of the root and causing earlier spoilage.

How to Store Carrots

If your harvested carrots are on today’s lunch or dinner menu, go ahead and rinse them in cool water and let them air dry. Otherwise, don’t rinse them just yet, as washing introduces moisture that can accelerate spoilage. 

Instead, gently brush off any loose dirt before placing carrots in an airtight container or plastic bag in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator. “Carrots need a cold and humid storage environment for maximum storage time and quality,” Lynch says. To keep them even crisper, wrap them in a slightly damp paper towel before sealing them up. 

Avoid storing carrots near apples or pears. These fruits give off ethylene gas, which can turn your sweet carrots bitter or cause them to spoil faster.

Koehn says carrots can last a couple of weeks to a month in the fridge. For optimum freshness, keep the peels on until prep time to seal in the carrot’s moisture. If you want to freeze your carrots, blanch them first to deactivate the enzymes that would otherwise compromise the texture and flavor.

“Carrots are a slow and steady crop," adds Koehn. "In the end, [they're] worth the patience."