Heirloom · Open-Pollinated · 65–75 days from direct seeding
cool-season · especially well suited to warm climates
Grows well in
Raised Bed ✓
In-Ground ✓
Container/Pot ✓
Grow Bag ✓
Meet This Plant
Chantenay Red Cored is the carrot for when your soil isn't perfect. Short, broad-shouldered, and stocky, it pushes through heavy, rocky, or clay-heavy soil that would twist a longer variety into knots. Cut one open and you'll find deep orange flesh with a striking red core that doesn't fade when it's cooked.
What it tastes like: Sweet and full-bodied with a richness that gets even deeper after a frost. The red core doesn't fade when cooked and the flavor holds up beautifully through roasting, braising, and canning. If you're growing for the freezer or the canning shelf, this is the one.
How to Grow It
Sun
Full sun. Carrots need good sun exposure for proper root development.
Water
Keep soil consistently moist from seeding through germination. Once established, water deeply and less frequently.
Sowing Details
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Depth¼ inch. Carrot seeds are tiny. Barely cover them.
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Spacing1–2 inches, thinning to 2–3 inches
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Row Spacing12–18 inches
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ThinningThin twice. First to ½ inch at 3 inches tall, then to 2–3 inches at 6 inches tall.
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Germination10–21 days. Slow to germinate. Don't give up on them.
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Days to Maturity65–75 days from direct seeding
When to Plant
For spring, direct sow 2–3 weeks before your last frost when daytime temperatures are consistently in the 40s to 50s°F and soil temps hit at least 45°F.
For fall, sow in mid to late summer about 10–12 weeks before your first fall frost so roots have time to mature before hard freeze.
Succession sow every 3 weeks for a continuous harvest.
Zones 7–8
Direct sow in early spring while daytime temperatures are still in the 40s to 50s°F, typically 2–3 weeks before your last frost.
For fall, direct sow in late summer once daytime temperatures start dropping below 80°F, typically 8–10 weeks before your first fall frost. Chantenay handles heat a little better than Nantes but it still doesn't want to mature in summer. Don't push it.
Zones 9–11
Fall through winter is your best season. Direct sow once the heat breaks as temperatures begin cooling. The roots will be noticeably sweeter for it.
Grow Friend Tips
This is the carrot for imperfect soil
Most carrot varieties need deep, loose, rock-free soil to form straight roots. Chantenay's short, stocky shape means it pushes through heavy, rocky, or clay-heavy soil with far less forking and twisting than longer carrot varieties. If you've struggled with misshapen carrots before, poor soil is probably why and this variety is your fix.
Thin them twice
Same rule as all carrots. Thin to ½ inch apart when seedlings hit 3 inches, then again to 2–3 inches when they hit 6 inches. Crowded Chantenay will still produce stumpy, tangled roots even with their forgiving shape. Give them room.
Keep the surface moist until they germinate
Carrot seeds are tiny and need consistent surface moisture to sprout. Cover the bed with burlap or row cover to hold moisture and check it daily. Once you see sprouts you can ease up.
Frost makes them sweeter
A cold snap before harvest converts starches to sugars. Fall Chantenay is noticeably sweeter and more full-flavored than spring-grown roots. If you can time a fall crop, do it.
It's amazing for preserving
The short, uniform shape and deep color hold up beautifully in the canning jar and the freezer. If you're putting up carrots for winter, this is the variety to do it with.
Companion plants
Tomatoes
Lettuce
Onions
Chives
Rosemary
Nasturtium
Harvest & What to Do With It
When it's ready
Chantenay is ready at 65–75 days when the shoulder of the root is about 2–2.5 inches across at the soil line. Brush a little dirt away from the base to check. Pull one to taste before harvesting the rest. Fall carrots can stay in the ground longer since cold sweetens them up considerably.
How to harvest
Water the bed the day before if soil is dry. Grab the greens close to the root and pull straight up with a gentle twist. If they resist, loosen the soil around them with a garden fork first. Don't yank or the tops will snap off and leave the root in the ground.
Yield
A short row produces a surprisingly large harvest. Succession sow every 3 weeks for a steady supply rather than one big pull.
Short-term storage
Remove the greens, wrap in a damp paper towel, and refrigerate. Keeps 2–4 weeks. Leaving the greens on draws moisture out of the root and they'll go limp fast.
Long-term storage
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Root cellaring: An excellent storage carrot. Pack in damp sand or sawdust at 32–40°F with high humidity. Keeps several months.
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Freezing: Blanch 2–3 minutes, ice bath, dry well, freeze flat then bag. Keeps up to 12 months. Holds up exceptionally well in cooked dishes.
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Pressure canning: One of the best carrots for canning because of its uniform shape and size. Follow current USDA guidelines for safe processing times and pressures.
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Dehydrating: Blanch first, slice thin, dehydrate at 125°F until completely dry. Keeps 6–12 months airtight. Great for soups and stews.
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Refrigerator pickling: Slice into coins or sticks, pack into a jar with vinegar, salt, sugar, and spices, and refrigerate. Ready in a few hours and keeps for several weeks.
❌
Water bath canning: Only safe for carrots in an acidified pickling brine. Plain carrots are too low in acid for water bath canning on their own.
What to cook
Raw when young and sweet, but Chantenay really shines when cooked. Roasted until caramelized, slow braised, added to soups and stews, or canned for the shelf. The deep color and full-bodied flavor hold up to heat better than most carrots. If you're making a pot of soup this winter from your own garden, these are the carrots that go in it.
Seed Storage & Saving
| Variety |
Chantenay Red Cored Carrot |
| Type |
Heirloom · Open-Pollinated |
| Seeds per packet |
~300 seeds |
Storing unused seeds: Keep somewhere cool, dark, and dry. Viable up to 3 years.
Seed saving: Carrots are insect-pollinated and will cross freely with other carrot varieties and wild carrot (Queen Anne's Lace) nearby. Isolate by at least half a mile for reliable purity, or grow only one variety at a time. Carrots are biennial. They set seed in their second year. Let a few plants overwinter, then let them bolt and flower in spring. Once the seed heads are fully dry and brown, cut the stalks, bring them inside to finish drying, then rub the seeds out by hand. Store in a cool, dark place.
