Tassie carrots have special place in Aussie culinary landscape | OPINION

I said at the end of my last column that I'd "be following up with the Harvest Moon top brass".

Neil is unwell so the co-owner Mark Kable is very busy, which means that hasn't been possible.

I thought about it for a while, then decided to have a look in detail at one of their main crops, carrots.

According to its website: "In its inception in 1981, Harvest Moon was set up as a fresh potato trader to interstate markets, while supplying local greengrocers in Tasmania.... the company now has sites in both Queensland and Victoria and employs about 400 people throughout the year.

"In Tasmania alone, they produce about 60,000 tonnes of vegetables annually, with carrots making up from 15,000 to 20,000 tonnes of the total.

"More than 80 growers in Queensland and Victoria supply an additional 30,000 tonnes of produce each year."

That's the size of the industry, so let's have a look at the carrot itself. I decided to look it up in "the Dictionary of Useful Plants" by Nelson Coon: "Daucus carota - Queen Anne's Lace, wild carrot.

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"Probably one of the most beautiful and decoratively useful weeds of the wide-open fields everywhere are the lacy white heads of Queen Anne's Lace and from this wild form has come, over the years, the essential vegetable - the common carrot."

Harvest Moon's Mark Kable had plenty to say about this species, around the time of International Carrot Day which was on April 1 (no fooling around).

He found the carrot for their Snackable range at a field day in Holland five years ago, and Harvest Moon now has the proprietary rights to grow it in Australasia.

"That carrot is a purpose-grown carrot, fully mature, sweet and juicy and just right for our Snackables brand. Our Snackable carrots are about offering healthy snacking solutions," he said.

"It's around convenience; it's perfect for lunch boxes, and on-the-go healthy snacks."

Mark says Tasmania is an ideal place for growing flavoursome carrots.

"Around Australia, the majority of carrots are grown in sand, but ours grow in rich red volcanic soils. This gives them extremely good eating qualities and extremely good keeping qualities, so we can export our carrots all around the world," he said.

We eat almost as much carrot per meal as we do potato, so are they good for you?

They are rich in Vitamin A.

This is essential for good vision and the immune system, reproduction, and growth and development.

You can imbibe your complete RDI (recommended daily intake) of this by eating 57 grams (a smallish carrot).

They also contain two more vitamins - B6 and C.

B6 is essential for neural and brain development.

C has a major role in the formation of collagen, bone, blood vessels and connective tissues.

A final comment, taken from the BBC interview in 1965 with my late lamented Ph.D supervisor: "What every housewife wants is a finger-sized carrot."

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