Meet the neighbours · vegetable
Carrot Tops
Contain more vitamin C and A than the carrot root itself — don't throw them away.
Carrot tops are the bonus crop most people toss. Sweet and tender when young (early thinning), they grow more robust and slightly bitter by the end of the season.
How to grow it
- Thin carrots early to harvest the sweetest, most tender greens.
- By end of season the tops are stronger and slightly bitter — better cooked than raw.
How to use & eat it
- Carrot Top Pesto: 4 cups chopped carrot tops (or half carrot top/half basil), 3–4 garlic cloves, juice of 1 lemon, 1/3 cup+ olive oil, 1/2 cup nuts of choice, salt, pepper, 1/4–1/3 cup parmesan. Puree greens, garlic, lemon juice, and oil; add nuts, salt, pepper; blend in cheese.
- Gremolata: An Italian herb condiment. 1/2 cup coarsely chopped carrot tops (stalks removed), 1-2 cloves minced garlic, zest of 1 lemon. Chop carrot greens, mix in garlic and lemon zest. Great over pasta, roasted potatoes, meat, or spooned onto beef stew.
- Green Smoothie: Lightly chop carrot greens (discard coarse stalks), blend with 1-2 green apples, lemon juice, a ripe banana, and cold water.
- Bonus use: regrow carrot tops indoors — cut the blunt end to 1/2 inch, set in a saucer of water until roots form, then plant in soil for fresh greens through winter.
Makes friends with
Companion planting is just good neighbouring — these do better beside Carrot Tops.
CarrotOnion
Cook with it
- Carrot Top PestoA great way to use up the carrot tops most people throw away — don't waste them, they're more nutritious than the root itself.
- Carrot Ginger CakeMade using leftover carrot pulp from juicing — a great way to use up what would otherwise be wasted.
Other neighbours
- FennelEvery part is edible — fronds, bulb, and seed — with a sweet, licorice-like flavour.
- ChivesHardy, self-seeding, one of the first plants up in spring.
- RosemaryA fragrant Mediterranean evergreen that grows as an annual here — but can winter over on a sunny windowsill.
- SageA soft, greyish-green "semi-perennial" neighbour — sometimes it overwinters, sometimes it doesn't.