“Why do you never see a rabbit wearing glasses?” I would say because they would fall off when he jumps, but supposedly the correct answer is because he eats carrots.
Carrots are one of the crops grown at Wild Things Farm. Little Finger is a member favorite, probably because they are harvested at a small size and they are really crunchy and sweet. Carrots are not hard to grow (they weren’t crazy about the super wet season we had last year though) and at the farm, carrots are one of the crops already in the ground.
A quick glance at the nutritional analysis of this veggie shows that carrots are highly nutritious. This table is on the website www.carrotmuseum.com in UK. There is a load of other information on carrots on that website that is definitely worth checking out if you’re interested in learning more. I thought this chart was worth sharing: (all these values are for 1 raw carrot, 7-1/2″ long”
% Recommended daily
Nutrient Unit amt men women
| Sodium | Mg | 25.200 | 5.0% | 5.0% |
| Total dietary fiber | Gms | 2.160 | 8.6% | 8.6% |
| Vitamin A | Re | 2025.360 | 202.5% | 253.2% |
| Vitamin A | IU | 20252.880 | ||
| Ascorbic acid | Mg | 6.696 | 11.2% | 11.2% |
| Thiamin | Mg | 0.070 | 4.7% | 6.3% |
| Riboflavin | Mg | 0.042 | 2.5% | 3.3% |
| Niacin | Mg | 0.668 | 3.5% | 4.5% |
| Vitamin B6 | Mg | 0.106 | 5.3% | 6.6% |
| Vitamin B12 | Mcg | 0.000 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Folacin | Mcg | 10.080 | 5.0% | 5.6% |
| Potassium | Mg | 232.560 | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| Calcium | Mg | 19.440 | 2.4% | 2.4% |
| Phosphorus | Mg | 31.680 | 4.0% | 4.0% |
| Magnesium | Mg | 10.800 | 3.1% | 3.9% |
| Iron | Mg | 0.360 | 3.6% | 2.4% |
| Zinc | Mg | 0.144 | 1.0% | 1.2% |
| Pantothenic acid | Mg | 0.142 | 2.8% | 2.8% |
| Copper | Mg | 0.034 | 1.7% | 1.7% |
| Manganese | Mg | 0.102 | 2.9% | 2.9% |
As you can see, carrots are chocked full of stuff we should be getting into our bodies every day. They are readily available year round, even for “locavores”.
It’s never happened to me before, but if you eat too many carrots you’ll turn yellow—honest, check it out. It’s called carotene. That’s also what our bodies turn into Vitamin A which is what helps keep our eyes healthy. I wish someone would develop a carrot for vision for folks who need longer arms to read……
One of my favorite way to prepare carrots is a carrot salad my mom used to make called Copper Carrots. I found the recipe on Recipezaar.com and here’s the link: http://www.recipezaar.com/Marinated-Carrots-83798
The hardest part of the recipe is the “refrigerate for 24-48 hours” part, but that’s always the hardest part of a recipe for me. I’m surprised I never did turn yellow though, when mom would make this dish I would hover around the frig until it was all gone. Good stuff!
Wild Things Farm 