Where do carrots keep their seeds?

[Pat Coyle]

Children ask the best questions. Last night at the dinner table our 8-year-old wondered aloud, "where do carrots keep their seeds?" We had no idea, but we know a lot of you are gardeners, so rather than looking up the answer on Wikipedia, we figured we'd give you guys a chance to wax philosophic on the sex life of root veggies, or whatever else tills your gardens. Join the discussion here.

[Lou Begnel]

Without looking, here is my educated guess - it's not in the orange section we normally buy at the store. It would make sense for it to be in the leaf portion that is above ground as plants generally rely on wind or animals for seed dispersion since you can only grow so many plants/trees in the same spot. Now to check out Wikipedia to see how right or wrong I was.

Lou

[Lynn Jenkins]

Hi Pat, What a great dinner table conversation! If you plant a few carrots in your back yard garden, or buy them fresh, you'll find that the tops have ferny leaves (or perhaps if bagged...you might not see the greenery at all). In the garden let them "go to seed" (i.e., not harvest them), and the leaves will produce flowers...which will eventually become seed. Oh, and in the process, if you have an organic garden and don't spray with pesticides, you'll likely find lots of caterpillars of the Swallowtail family. Carrots leaves are a favorite larval food for the Eastern Black Swallowtail. Others in the Carrot family include parsly, dill, fennel and Queen Anne's Lace...so be sure to plant enough for the butterflies to enjoy!
Lynn

[Lynn Jenkins]

Small, but not the tinest (like impatiens seeds).
They look like and are similar in size (maybe a little smaller) to caraway seeds (same family). You are probably familiar with Caraway seeds in rye bread. (Yum!)

[Stephen James]

I think the orange part of the carrot is a root or tuber of some sort (like potatoes). I don't know where the fruit (seed holding part is), but it's somewhere else.

[Lorraine Ball]

You mean carrots don't grow in the grocery store?

[Nicki Laycoax]

Is it fruits or veggies that are supposed to have seeds? This classification always confuses me.... Green beans, cucumbers, and green peppers have seeds, but so do tomatoes, apples, and oranges. Is this just a wives tale/urban legend?