Bummer. No carrots.

The lettuce is working out OK, so I figured it was time to check on the carrots at home. The tops are growing pretty well. (The garlic, too -- note where I've had to bend the stems down so they don't flatten themselves against the lights.)
But it's impossible to tell whether, down under the dirt, they're actually making any carrots. In a previous post, I mentioned that Nancy Kreith with the University of Illinois extension service said she didn't think they would. I've been reluctant to check, because it seems like once I pull the carrot, that's the end of the experiment.

I pulled the carrot.

Bummer.

I'm not sure what I expected. But I think I figured it would just pick up where it left off. It didn't.

But wait! I went to post that picture and noticed those little bumps near the middle of the carrot stump. Might those be new taproots forming? Upon closer inspection...


...it's still pretty hard to say what's going on down there. So I threw it out. But then I figured, what the hell, this whole project is a lark, anyway. I plopped it back into the hole whence it came, with some water and my apologies. What's the worst that could happen?