Carrot Trivia 101 things you never knew about carrots

Trivia 2 which gives examples of the carrot in the Arts and Sciences together with some fascinating "rock art" discovered by Brian Lee in America. Here you will also find the famous icy sparks microwave effect explained, and examples of carrot tattoos. Carrots can make antifreeze and see if carrots could unlock the mysteries of the universe!
Were Carrots the first step in cloning? and so much more .........

Trivia 3 concentrates on Carrots in Literature, Poetry and Quotations. Separate page documenting some carrot books here.

Welcome to the amazing trivial world of the Carrot. You probably thought that the carrot has a very uninteresting life with no significance to the world. Well read on and be amazed how carrots impact on everyday life.

Carrot references can be found in many part of the arts and sciences. Carrots have been included in several major works of art and helped in identifying species in the 16th century using the paintings of the Dutch masters.

See some magnificent examples of fine art depicting carrots here.

Carrots are one of the rare vegetables which are more nutritious cooked than raw, find out why here. And when cooked whole!

In the US a typical carrot has to travel 1,838 miles to reach your dinner table! (Source: Pirog, Rich, and Andrew Benjamin. "Checking the Food Odometer: Comparing Food Miles for Local Versus Conventional Produce Sales in Iowa Institutions." Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, July 2003. httptp://www.leopold.iastate.edu/pubs/staff/files/food_travel072103.pdf)

There is a real Carrot Tree, native t

o Madeira - here - While most members of the Apiaceae are herbaceous, a few are woody, such as this Tree Carrot, Monizia edulis, which is endemic to the Island of Madeira. It is fairly common for families that are predominantly herbaceous to have woody representatives on oceanic islands. Photo here.

A Carrot contains chemicals to help it stay healthy - here Bugs Bunny Car - here

The 1551 edition of the "Libro de Agricultura" by Gabriel Alonso de Herrera records the "colour of oranges" to describe carrots.

One of the first written evidences of an orange carrot, particularly written in English (and therefore cannot be misinterpreted during translation) is Hortus Medicus Edinburgensis – A Catalogue of plants in the Physical Garden at Edinburgh by James Sutherland intendent of said garden in 1683.

This work makes reference to Orange, Red, Yellow and White carrots, together with the common Wild Carrot. It and also distinguishes them from Parsnip as a separate plant.(See extract here). This is a very useful record as it shows what actually existed in the botanic garden in Edinburgh.

- Carrot juice is used for many things besides drinking. Ed Ruscha, who is a master printer and artist uses carrot juice instead of printer ink. He has also printed with spinach juice, chocolate and strawberries. Read more about Ed Ruscha here. Read more about the wonder and health benefits of Carrot Juice here.

- Carrots often appear in vegetable bingo games to help kids learn their vegetables.

- a pyramid of carrots containing 3 tons of carrots would be approximately 4 feet square and 4 feet tall. If we take the estimate of 27,500 carrots as 3 toms, and assume an average volume of 1.2 cubic inches for each carrot, then the base of a square pyramid would be approximately 4 feet by 4 feet. The height would be nearly the same. This assumes the carrots on the base are laid out in one direction and alternated for each successive layer. Calculations from Bolthouse Carrots!

Here are Trivia Nos 1 to 45:

	The Wild Carrot is called Queen Anne's Lace. Click here to find out why.
	The World Longest Carrot recorded in 2007 was 5.839 metres (19 feet 1 7/8 inches) - Joe Atherton, UK
	The World Heaviest Carrot recorded in 1998 was 18.985 lb (8.61kg) (single root mass)John V. R. Evans, USA See World records page here.
	The Biggest collection in the world - Romana. See her own pages here.
	There is a carrot pie flavour jelly bean!
	Both of the words in "Daucus Carota" mean orange.
	Carrots were first grown as a medicine not a food. History starts here
	The average person will consume 10,866 carrots in a lifetime see photo here
	The Ancient Greeks called carrots "Karoto"
	Carrots, like other food, are travelling nearly 60 per cent further on the UK roads than in the 1970s - read more
	Carrots flowers are also called Birds nest, Bees nest and the Devils Plague
	Carrots produce more distilled spirit than potatoes.
	Le Roi Carotte is an 1872 operetta by Offenbach photo here
	The crisp texture of carrots is the result of the cell walls being stiffened with the indigestible food fibers cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin.
	Tobacconists in France used to put a carrot in their bins to keep their tobacco from drying out.
	Jeff Chiplis, from Cleveland has a collection of over 10,000 carrot items. See his own page - click here.
	The Japanese word for carrot is "ninjin"!
	In early Celtic literature, the carrot is referred to as the "Honey Underground"!
	Yes there is a carrot beetle! more here.
	The classic Bugs Bunny carrot is the "Danvers" type.
	It's a myth that Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny, was allergic to carrots - he simply did not like them More details here.
	Carrots are not always orange and can also be found in purple, white, red or yellow. More information here.
	Carrots were the first vegetable to be canned commercially. Napoleon! - read more here.
	Carrots might unlock the secrets of the universe. More detail here.
	The carrot belongs to the family Umbelliferae.
	If you dug a hole to the Earth's center and dropped a Baby Carrot in it, it'd take 42 minutes to get to the bottom.
	Carrots have one of the highest content of beta carotene (vitamin A) of all vegetables.
	The cultivated variety is classified as Daucus carota, variety sativa.
	You get between 175,000 and 450,000 seeds in a pound - a teaspoon can hold approximately 2000!
	The Americans know the wild carrot as Queen Anne's Lace, wild carrot, rattlesnake weed & American carrot.
	The carrot is a member of the parsley family including species such as celery, parsnip, fennel, dill and coriander.
	If your first name is Carrot it has made you happiest when you are expressing in some creative, artistic way, and not conforming to strict routine. Find out more.
	Holtville, California dubs itself "The Carrot Capital of the World." with an Annual Festival, now in its 60th year. Check out more here. Other carrot festivals around the world - here
	The Anglo-Saxons included carrots as an ingredient in a medicinal drink against the devil and insanity.
	The Greek foot soldiers who hid in the Trojan Horse were said to have consumed ample quantities of raw carrots to inactivate their bowels.
	The above is unlikely to be true. The Trojan Horse is a mythological tale and carrots are GOOD for constipation, so would have the opposite effect, or did they eat lot of carrots before the fight to clear their intestines and avoid any problems during the important moment?? another apocryphal tale.
	The Ancient Greeks called the plant Philtron or Bird's Nest.
	There is a real Carrot Tree, native to Madeira - here
	Gentlemen in Teheran in the 1870's took carrots stewed in sugar as an aphrodisiac to increase the quality and quantity of sperm!
	Believe it or not School in the Uk were given official instructions on how to eat carrots! - click here.
	In Suffolk, Carrots were formerly given as a specific for preserving and restoring the wind of horses.
	In August 2005 Ozlem Aydin wrote a thesis on the mathematical analysis of peeling of carrots, to the graduate school of natural and applied sciences of middle east technical university as part of the requirement for a Masters Degree in Food Engineering.
	Fuel for Cars? Scientists now believe that bio fuels will be the answer to our energy needs when the oil runs out. One such fuel, perhaps within 10 years, will be carrots - it would take approximately 6000 carrots to drive one mile.
	A strong decoction of carrot and root make a very good insecticide.
	You get 10 mg of Vitamin A from 20 average carrots. If you dream of carrots - it portends prosperity and health; for a young woman to eat them denotes she will contract an early marriage and be the mother of several hardy children!!

In the European Union Jam Directive, written in the 80s and updated in 2001, it describes the parameters required for a product to be labelled as jam or marmalade and from which the UK Jam and Similar Products legislation is based, there is the phrase "for the purposes of this directive, tomatoes, the edible part of rhubarb stalks, carrots, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, melons and water melons are considered to be fruit". This was introduced to pacify the Portuguese who are strongly into Carrot Marmalade!

Of course carrots are not biologically a fruit as they do not carry the seeds, and the above paragraph in the jam directive does not reclassify them as such, just allows them to be used as fruit.

Duerrs, the famous British Jam maker does not use any carrots in their products, although twin carrot

many years ago they did try carrot jam and tomato jam. It is recalled that this was to try out what the products would taste like due to the above mentioned in the jam directive. The unanimous conclusion at the time was that tomato jam was actually very nice but carrot jam was awful! Try this Carrot Jam Recipe.

Marmalade is a curiously British term, marmalade means a jam made with citrus fruit. The term was fought over in the European Community as other countries wanted to do away with it or change its meaning. Marmalade contains citrus fruit (sometimes with something else like ginger or ) and is usually characterised by the cut of the peel. Marmalade is thought to have originated in Portugal, where quinces (marmelo) were cooked with sugar to make a preserve. The British were the first to add the peel back to orange marmalade, to make the preserve set instead of using apple juice, hence the British tradition of orange marmalade.

Carrot is definitely a vegetable. Though vegetable is strictly a culinary term, and open to mis-interpretation. Carrot Marmalade Recipe here.

Romana from Newport Rhode Island has her own Carrot Museum and has been collecting carrot artefacts since 1993 and now has over a 1300 pieces from all over the world! These range from mugs, artwork, toys, birdhouses, underwear and a toothbrush. Her husband, Charles has even given her three carrot rings!!.

This is surely true carrot madness. Romana has so much stuff it warrants a few pages of her own in the World Carrot Museum. A few pages of photos will give you a flavour of the entire collection. Click here to go there. Of course her collection includes contributions from the World Carrot Museum.

Should you wish to visit and stay in Armistead Cottage in Rhode Island check out Romana's own Web site here.

There is also a small display "museum" in Belgium, though really is a very small collection on public display - see here.

A Carrot Thimble - Yes! just when you think you have seen everything a new carrot items appears. A thimble made out of a real carrot. Hand carved by, the artist, a silversmith, is Lucerne Wulf of AZ. She normally makes wonderful silver thimbles, but wanted to try thimbles in other materials. This carrot is from her "vegetable" phase. She also made a thimble from a potato!

The thimble was made in 1995 and was bought it in 1996 at a Thimble Collectors International convention sales mall, by Barbara K. Acchino, who kindly informed the Carrot Museum and supplied the photographs.

A Wonderful Carrot Fan - Just when the Carrot Museum thinks it has seen everything another fantastic find comes along.

This fan is one of many interesting novelty fans soon to be in a book titled "Novelty Fans, Fashionable, Foundational Fun Accessories of the Past" by hand fan expert Cynthia Fendel. The paper mâché carrot is approximately 6" closed and 13" when the fabric leafs at the top are pulled up.

The fan style is called "cockade" and simple examples were popular during the late 19th century in Europe and the US. A variety of objects were imitated such as pencils, candles, and bottles. Although Japan made many novelty fans, this is not from far east. There are no markings on the fan. Any comments on this fan would be greatly appreciated. Click on the picture for a larger image, or here.

Why not visit Cynthia Fendel's web site for a fascinating insight in the world of fans: www.handfanpro.com

Did you know? - One pound of carrots gives a normal man enough energy to raise 64 tons 1 foot in the air? That same pound can produce 1 ounce and 11 grains of sugar. A pound also contains 14 ounces of water.

Carrots contain more sugar than any other vegetable, with the exception of beets.

Attempts have also been made to extract sugar from Carrots, but the resulting thick syrup refuses to crystallize, and in competition with either cane sugar or that obtained from the sugar beet, it has not proved commercially successful.

Carrot sugar, got from the inspissated juice of the roots, may be used at table, and is good for the coughs of consumptive children.

Since the sugars are concentrated in the carrots' core, generally those with larger diameters will have a larger core and therefore be sweeter.

Customised US Postage stamp

Personalize your own message for this cartoon rabbit postage. This rabbit is having some abunnydance.

The world is his carrot. He lives in a carrot house and has a carrot fence. Carrots are his favourite munchie. His friend, the horse, just got him a juicer, so they have tea parties now outside and serve carrot juice.

Life is good, and the livin' is easy 24 carrot-hours per day.

More Carrot Postage Stamps Here

Carrot Sunday - The Sunday before Michaelmas 29 September is called carrot Sunday in Scotland.

On the afternoon of the Sunday preceding Michaelmas, women and girls in the Hebrides gather St. Michael's wild carrots. But they don't just dig them up haphazardly - a very special ritual must be observed.

First, triangular holes are dug with a three-pronged mattock; the holes represent St. Michael's shield and the mattock is symbolic of his trident. As the carrots are being dug, the following charm is recited:

After the carrots are dug, they are tied into bunches with red thread. These are given as gifts to visitors on Michaelmas Day. Any carrots with forked roots are thought to be especially lucky.

The Eve of St. Michael is the eve of bringing in the carrots, of baking the struan, of killing the lamb, of stealing the horses. The Day of St. Michael is the Day of the early mass, the day of the sacrificial lamb, the day of the oblation struan, the day of the distribution of the lamb, the day of the distribution of the struan, the day of the pilgrimage to the burial-ground of their fathers, the day of the burial-ground service, the day of giving and receiving the carrots with their wishings and acknowledgements, and the day of the oda - the athletics of the men and the racing of the horses. The Night of Michael is the night of the dance and the song, of the merry-making, of the love-making, and of the love-gifts.
Some days before the festival of St. Michael the women and girls go to the fields and plains of the townland to procure carrots. The afternoon of the Sunday immediately preceding St. Michael's day is specially devoted to this purpose, and on this account is known as Domhnach Curran - Carrot Sunday. The carrot was a fertility symbol usually given from a woman to a man.

An ancient pagan festival, Christianized into the feast day of St. Michael, demonstrates the close relationship of magic to food. Wild carrots, a symbol of fertility were dug in late September to honour St. Michael, patron saint of the sea, a great celebration being held on September 29. The Sunday prior to St. Michael’s day the carrots were harvested by women singing special songs, forked roots being especially prized. They were typically dug by removing soil in an equal-sided triangle, using a special three-pronged mattock. They were tied with a red thread in bundles of three and presented by the women to their menfolk. The significance of the number three is believed to have originated as symbolic of the three stages of a woman’s life - girl, mother, crone - and later was Christianized to be symbolic of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

Riddle: The following number is the only one of its kind. '8,549,176,320' Can you figure out what is so special about it?
Answer: It's the only number that has all the digits arranged in alphabetical order.

Carrot Soapboxes - You thought you had seen it all - well what about this Carrot Soap Box made for a Soap Box Derby in Vancouver,BC, CANADA. Many thanks to Judson Beaumont Owner & Designer of Straight Line Designs Inc. Great idea Judson.

Kinetic Carrot Sculpture Cars - Once a simple race down Ferndale's Main Street, the Great Arcata to Ferndale World Championship Kinetic Sculpture Race has grown to become a three-day, all terrain race across 42 miles of roads, mud, water, sand, gravel and more. Held annually on Memorial Day weekend, this local event draws racers and spectators from around the country, and has been televised around the world!

Yin and Yang - Asians traditionally classify foods as yin, yang, or neutral, depending on the energy they impart to the body. Yin, or cooling, foods are said to have a calming effect, whereas yang foods are warming. Neutral foods, such as rice and other whole grains, provide balance. Westerners tend to over indulge in yang foods, such as french fries and meat. The aim is to maintain health through a proper balance of yin and yang.

Yin (cooling) foods include Steamed, poached, or boiled foods. Bok choy, bean sprouts, cucumber, eggplant, tofu, seafood.

Yang (warming) foods include Deep fried, stir-fried, or roasted foods. Meats & poultry. Garlic, ginger, spices, carrots, onion.

This undated photo provided by PETA shows Lydia Guevara posing on the set of her PETA photo shoot. The granddaughter of Cuban revolutionary leader Ernesto 'Che' Guevara is the face of a new PETA campaign touting 'the vegetarian revolution.' PETA spokesman Michael McGraw says the campaign will debut in Argentina in October and will be seen internationally. It's PETA's first vegetarianism campaign in South America

The carrot represents a carrot dangled in front of the residents of the area by the Government with promises of an extension of the Island Highway to Port Hardy.

Zizi's latest creation, don't mess with this carrot toting lady!

Visit Zizi's page here

Carrot Snuff

It has a orange-brown colour, it is dry and medium-fine, and has a scent of carrot.

French Carotte Snuff by Fribourg & Treyer is blended using Zimbabwe Flue Cured Leaf, Dark Cured Leaf & Flue Cured Stem tobacco. Flavoured with Sandalwood Oil & French Carotte Essence, French Carotte snuff is historically described as "Snuff blending allows for infinite variety, since the many bases and well-nigh limitless perfumes give the expert ample scope for experiment. Sometimes, a happy combination of ingredients is arrived at with gratifying results. This happened with French Carotte. As a mixture it is new but the components were in use over two centuries ago. In earlier time the word “Carotte” meant the roll of tobacco from which snuff users grated their own; today it names one of the finest bases, smooth and retentive, deserving only the best of perfumes. One such is sandalwood oil which is distilled from the aromatic wood of a small evergreen tree grown in the East, and has a delicate non-cloying aroma faintly suggestive of incense. Combining these select ingredients has produced a charming snuff of unique distinction."

Buy your carrot snuff here.

Birds Nest - European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) face serious pressure from pathogens and parasites. Studies by biologist Larry Clark show that by lining their nests with select fresh vegetation, these birds are protecting themselves from a myriad of possible infections. Wild carrot (Dauscus carota), for example, kills fowl mites in starling nests, although the precise mechanism by which this occurs is not known. The carrot contains the steroid B-sitosterol, a compound that repels mites and inhibits their egg-laying abilities.

This compound is also found in leaves of the margosa tree (Azadirachta indica), from which house sparrows often gather material to line their nests, and which some Native Americans employ as a tick repellent. Other chemicals in the plant may disrupt the mites' feeding behaviour, or delay mite development and colonisation within the nest. How starlings know to choose parasite-deterring plants like the wild carrot remains a bigger mystery.

Old Dollar Bills - September 26, 1778 $40: Here are the Continental Currency notes of the September 26, 1778 Resolution SN 140734

Signed by J(oseph) Snowden in red ink and R(obert) Cather. The emblem on the front shows the rays of an all seeing eye shining down on what appears to be a sacrificial alter with a flame that is surrounded by thirteen stars, below is the motto: CONFEDERATION. The nature print on the back is of carrot leaves.

Some unusual shaped carrots, kindly sent by Diana Grappasonno, from Portland Oregan. Click on photo to see enlarged image.

Man proposes to his girlfriend dressed as a carrot..... with 43 other carrot friends! -

See the video above In this photo taken on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011, a total of 49 people dressed in giant carrot costumes dance on a square before Pang Kun, one of the 49 carrots, proposes to his girlfriend in Qingdao in east China’s Shandong province. According to Chinese news reports and photos posted online Pang has spent three weeks and 100,000 yuan ($15,000) for his wedding proposal to his girlfriend, assisted by his 48 friends, on China’s Valentine’s Day which fell on Aug. 6.

Navigation of this page:	101 Trivia	Carrot Pub	Homonyms	Signing	Yin and Yang	Carrot Fan	Post Stamps
Navigation of this page:	Other Museums	Carrot Sunday	Veg or Fruit?	Around the World	The soapboxes	Thimble	Odds 'n ends

	Austria: Karotte		Netherlands: Peen
	Belgium: Wortel		Norway: Gulrot
	Denmark: Gulerod		Portugal: Cenoura
	Finland: Porkkana		Spain: Zanahoria
	France: Carotte		Sweden: Morot
	Germany: Mohre		Switzerland: Carotte
	Greece: Karotto		UK: Carrot
	Italy:Carota		Polish: Marchew
	Chinese: húluóbo		Malay:lobak merah
	Mongolian:luuvan		Thai:Khaerot


Someone figured out that we eat an average of 10866 carrots in a lifetime, and this it what that looks like!		What the novelty balloon man does on his day off!


Twisting and intertwining often a result from seeding too thickly and inadequate thinning of seedlings.