Yesterday I decided to check on some carrot plants that I'd left alone after our fall bed clean up. When I say clean-up I mean that we knocked down the dying plants and laid them out over the top of the bed. We randomly tossed some banana peels from rushing out the door breakfasts in this bed and let the leaves lay on top since we planned on rotating this bed a different direction come spring. Basically just leaving it to compost a bit on it's own.

I noticed nearly every time I passed it, that the carrot plants were sticking it out. They had been transplanted up front with little hope of them surviving at all as the summer had been hot and unforgiving. They seemed to just stay perky and green all winter long. So I left them be.


When I went to pull a couple to check them yesterday I was surprised and yet happy to find strong plant structures and thumb sized carrots growing.

*please excuse the blurry carrot, I was just taking this one for scale

So my questions are, has any one grown year long carrots before outside a greenhouse situation? Are these no longer edible because they seem to have roots springing from everywhere? If I leave them alone until we rotate the bed can I replant them that day and just leave them to finish growing with hopes of tasty carrots later this spring?

The best I can remember the seeds were for basic average length carrots. This year I'm keeping a seed journal to help with this, I'm sure I put them in the seed bin but somehow I don't have their packet anymore.
They did not have any worm marks or rot on them and I immediately  replanted them back in the holes I pulled them from.

I'm going to be doing research on my end, but I haven't found anything just yet. Feel free to chime in even if you have any clue as I had honestly just given up on these guys months ago!