This year I decided to try a little comparison experiment with carrots. For what seems like forever, I have grown Ropyal Chantenay carrots in our garden. This year
I was lured by the description of a new hybrid carrot. So I decided to grow them side by side.
There is a noticable difference in the growth habit of the two varieties but it is subtle.
As you can see in the picture Envy is a bit thinner and longer and R.C. is blockier. But the difference is subtle.
The R.C. core is a little bit wider than Envy. The core is more woody and current thought is that a smaller core makes for a better carrot. The deciding factor is in the taste. The R.C. has a little bit more of an earthy taste while the Envy has a little bit more sweet and aromatic taste. The difference between the two is subtle however.
So on most accounts the difference between the two is small. The real winner in this was an unintended consequence of the new location for growing the carrots. In the past I had always grown carrots in our other vegetable garden with raised beds just one foot high. Every year carrot flies lay their eggs on the carrots and the maggots would bore little holes into the tops of the roots. I still was able to have a harvest, but I would often have to cut off part of the carrot. Carrot flies fly close to the ground and the usual way to combat them is to errect a fabric barrier around the carrot bed. They don’t fly up to get over. With the new raised bed it appears that it is a little too tall for the carrot flies to find the carrots. And on top of that, the sifted soil with very few rocks allows the carrots to grow without forking. So I would call this a success. Tomorrow I will pick a couple of pounds of carrots to prepare a carrot/pineapple/golden raisen salad to bring to the cooking group at the library on Saturday. Yum!
New Hampshire Gardening 
Your carrot crops looks wonderful. Sifted soil? Soil put on a screen or how did you do it? Thanks.
I used 2 x 4’s to build a rectangle. Then I stapled 1/2” wire mesh across one face. I support it with saw horses and shovel soil on top. Either with a rake or with gloved hands I move the soil across the mesh. Sifted soil falls through and rocks and weeds stay on top to be gathered and placed in my wheelbarrow. I have a low spot deep in the woods that I am filling up with small rocks and decaying weeds from the sifting.