How Carrots Grow Underground

A bright orange carrot might arrive in your kitchen with a little earth still on its tip. It grew in the ground before anyone put it in a shopping bag. How do carrots grow underground?

A farmer begins with a seed, a tiny package that holds the beginning of a new plant. The farmer plants carrot seeds in loose soil, the crumbly earth where plants grow. Loose soil gives each carrot room to grow downwards.

The farmer waters the soil to keep it damp. With water and enough warmth, the seed begins to grow. A little root pushes down, while a small shoot reaches upwards towards the light.

A root is the part of a plant that takes in water and holds the plant in place. The young carrot has a main root and tiny roots beside it. Those tiny roots take up water from the soil.

Above the ground, the shoot opens green leaves. The leaves use sunlight, water and something in the air to make food for the plant. That food helps the whole plant grow, including the root hidden below.

Here is a little guessing moment. Which part will become the orange carrot: the green leaves above the ground, or the root below? The answer is the root. The carrot we eat is the plant’s thick main root.

The plant stores some of the food its leaves make inside that root. As the weeks pass, the root grows thicker and longer. Above it, the leaves keep catching sunlight, while the farmer waters whenever the soil gets too dry.

When the carrots have grown big enough, the farmer gathers them. On a small plot, the farmer loosens the earth and lifts the carrots out. On a large farm, the farmer can use a harvesting machine to lift many carrots.

Farm workers wash away the earth and sort the carrots before packing them into boxes. A driver carries the boxes to a shop. Some carrots bend or have two pointed ends, but they are still carrots.

At home, a grown-up washes a carrot before preparing it for your meal. The grown-up handles the sharp knife and hot pan, cooking pieces until they are soft. The carrot has travelled from the ground to your table.

Seed, soil, root, growing carrot, gathering, washing, shop and table. A carrot grows underground because it is the plant’s main root, which thickens as it stores food made by the leaves above.

Now you know the little growing story hidden inside a carrot on your plate.