We have struggled for years to grow carrots. They grow and taste amazing, but had an odd shape. We harvested a large purple and another orange earlier this summer. Our neighbors received a welcome home gift bag from us last night that contained an average sized yellow and a pinkish carrot along with other garden goodies. We have a few others growing in our carrot patch that we will harvest in the next week. We attribute our success to the soil (which was stirred compost so that the soil was loose). We sprouted the seeds and transplanted carefully into holes in the soil so that the root was straight. The carrots seemed to enjoy growing during the summer next to the cantaloupes. We believe this environment kept the temperature right for the carrots. Finally, the seeds we used are the best we have ever had. We purchased them on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Seeds-Things-Organic-Carnival-Carrot/dp/B003UXEQ86/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1440686648&sr=8-2&keywords=carnival+carrots+seeds+organic