Carrots Carrots are the absolute main crop at Marienlyst. We are on of the biggest suppliers of organic carrots in Denmark; and throughout many years as an organic producer of carrots, we have got great knowledge and experience, in which our customers now take pleasure. There are a vast number of carrot sorts with various tastes, quality and growth suitability. Taste is the most important parameter, when we choose sorts. Read more about sorts and taste here. We sow the first carrots for the new season in March, before we are done harvesting the former season's carrots. Usually we can provide with our own carrots from the middle of July to April/May the following year. We weed the carrot fields by hand at least once throughout the growth period. It is a lot of time-consuming work that is done by seasonal workers. The first carrots are harvested by the top with a machine from July, and are sold until the frost bites. Then we harvest the winter carrots, and sell them the rest of the season. Because of the big job it is to keep the carrots in the soil, the prices goes up a little in the wintertime. Read more about winter carrots here. To be able to provide with organic carrots from the end of May till the beginning of July, where the new carrots still are not ready, and the old once have gone bad, we import carrots, mainly from a grower in Spain. We also know good producers in Italy and Israel. All carrots are washed before packed and delivered to the supermarkets. They are washed in clean subsoil water, were they rub each other just like when we wash our clothes. During the washing the skin of the carrot gets a little damaged, which is the reason why the validity of the carrots is limited to approximately three weeks, because it cannot breath as easy. An unwashed carrot can stay fresh longer, if it store correctly. If the carrots are used within a week, there is no difference in the taste. Incidentally both stay fresh longer, if kept cool while wrapped in a plastic bag with holes. Potatoes A potato is not just a potato. Every year we grow different sorts of potatoes chossed by: growing time, disease resistance, taste and consistency. When we choose, the emphasis is on the taste. A potato that is easy to grow, and otherwise is perfect has no chance at Marienlyst, if the taste is missing. The sorts we use at the time is: Ditta. Our absolute main sort. It is a medium-early growing potato, with a regular shape, with oblong tubers, and a smooth, yellow skin. It is still firm when cooked, has a nice yellow color and is tasty. The skin is thin, so it's not a problem eating it too. Good as normal boiling potato and also very suitable for staying in their jackets. In Addition it is possible to worm the potatoes again without any loss of taste and consistency. Because of the firmness, it is unusually good in salads. The big potatoes can be baked in the oven, sliced in half for instance, while the small once can be baked as they are. Marabel. An early growing potato that still tastes good till late fall. The tubers are oval with yellow skin and inside. Still firm when cooked. Cooks faster than other sorts. Suitable for both cooking and baking. Jutlandia. A medium-early growing potato with oval and well-shaped golden/yellow tubers. Very firm when cooked. Thin and tasty skin, suitable for eating. Sava. Oval tubers with yellow skin and inside. Firm when cooked, and had a round, soft taste. Suitable for boiling with their jackets. Good all winter long. Sava distinguishes itself by staying good throughout most of spring, because it sprouts late. Solist. An early growing potato that is not as watery as other sorts. It has round to oval uniform tubers. More white inside, but firm with good taste. The first potatoes pre-sprouts in a greenhouse from February and is put into the soil late in March. Those fields are covered with plastic or other wraps; they can be harvested and sold from around June 10th. The organic potatoes are ready approximately 2 weeks later that the traditional once, because they have been forced to grow using fertilizer. Slower growth does give better quality, so it is worth waiting for. Most years we have potatoes up till around May the following year, but the yield can vary from one year to another, depending on weather and what time of the year the mould fungus decides to attack. In May and June we import new potatoes from Italy and Egypt. Cauliflower Cauliflower is harder to produce organically, because they are much more sought after by insects and caterpillars. We have lots of experience with the growing, and can grow nice cauliflower in the Danish season, which goes from June till October. We have to make sure to get a good price, even if we get a heat wave, and there are twice as many cauliflowers a week, than we expected. The biggest issue today is the lack of understanding the organic nature by the supermarkets. They demand that the organic products are just as sterile as the traditional once, which is done by using fertilizer. When we in the high summer period have delivered single almost perfect and flawless cauliflowers, housing an insect between the leaves, the whole pallet has been discarded. Therefore we can only grow cauliflowers in certain periods, where we can avoid the worst waste, and where we are pretty certain about the sale. We simply cannot live with, economically and morally, throwing away so many extremely pretty and flawless cauliflowers. We think it is a shame that the supermarkets in that way limits the consumers possibility of buying organic cauliflowers throughout the whole season; not only because the taste so good. People who say they cannot taste the difference between organically- and traditionally grown vegetables, should never taste an organic cauliflower, if they do not wish to convert. Beetroot Sown directly in their grow spot in May, and is kept clean by weeding with the hand, and cleansing by machine till they are harvested before the frost bites. We only grow and sell beetroots of the round shape, because they are best in raw food salads. Another reason is that they do not temp to accumulate nitrite, like the long shaped once. Beetroots has a long validity, and can be bought from September till May. It's a great source for getting healthy and rich-in-vitamin greens throughout the winter. And fortunately then can be used for much, much more than Beetroots for preserves. Parsley root/Hamburg Parsley Another root crop that deserves a much bigger use. They have a fine spicy and sweet taste. Can be used raw or in soups. They also taste great in the boiling pot with the potatoes. They are sown in May and grow slowly in the beginning. There is a lot of weeding to do, but the harvesting can wait till after the frost bites, because the can take it. We can deliver from October till March/April. Parsnip A great root crop that has got its richly deserved renaissance. It is a green rich in vitamins, with a sweet, mild and nutty taste of celery root. You can get it fresh all winter long. Only imagination sets limits for its use. Eat it raw in raw food salads, or use it in soups and stew. It is also really good as gratin in the oven, or mashed . They are sown at the same time as the Parsley root, but sprout and grow faster. The season goes from October till March/April.