Carrots flower in their second year and so the method for seed saving detailed on the Real Seed website was to leave two or three carrots in the bed, as these would die back over winter, then grow back this spring, would eventually flower, producing seed which could then be collected.
7th February 2014
As it turned out I didn’t really get many carrots up and so was reluctant to leave a couple in the beds but a friend of mine told me that during food preparation of my freshly harvested carrots, when I topped them I should leave about an inch of carrot still attached to the foliage and then immediately replant these. So I did, and sure enough the carrots died right back over the winter, to the point that I thought they had failed.
8th April 2014
Then early this year I realised that there appeared to be some carrot growth where I had planted the tops and over the last few months I have watched these little plants slowly but steadily put on growth and so it is now a waiting game which will, with a little luck, result in home grown carrot seed for next years crops ….. fingers crossed.
23rd April 2014
11th May 2014
It’s amazing the speed at which plants can grow given a good mix of sunshine, warm temperatures and rain.
18th May 2014
The flower heads are starting to form:
23 May 2014
6th June 2014
18th June 2014
I have had a long wait for the flowers to finish flowering and the seed to form and start to dry out but the seed heads have now been harvested and more information on the seed collection can be found here.
The Land Rover Owners Ex Wife 
April 29, 2014 at 11:18 pm
Reblogged this on Insectamonarca's Blog and commented:
I have never had any success in growing carrots. I am trying again with little round carrots. This year I used sand and tossed the seed in the mix before planting in a row and tapping it down.
April 26, 2014 at 3:15 am
Outstanding, this is great information.
April 26, 2014 at 7:47 am
Thank you Charlie, although the proof of the pudding will be in whether or not I get seed đŸ™‚
April 26, 2014 at 12:15 am
I wonder if I could do that with carrot tops from the veg box. Although our garden is all about builders’ rubble so even tatties don’t grow well. We’d get some interestingly shaped carrots!
April 26, 2014 at 7:45 am
Hi Alison,
You have nothing to lose by giving it a try but I guess it will depend on how long the carrots have been out of the ground.
What about sowing carrots into a deep container, until your soil improves?
April 26, 2014 at 12:16 pm
Heh. I think the only way we could improve our soil is by replacing it, and that’s not an option. I suppose we could try carrots in a barrel. Hmmm. Easy kids’ project.
April 25, 2014 at 11:46 pm
If you do this several years in a row, they will self sow and become your carrot patch, like onions
April 26, 2014 at 7:41 am
That would certainly save time and effort harvesting/sowing seed but I have limited space and a rotation system in place, so if it works carrot tops will be planted in a different bed next time đŸ™‚
April 25, 2014 at 6:53 pm
That’s genius! I love it.
April 25, 2014 at 6:58 pm
Isn’t it though. It would never have occurred to me to plant carrot tops. Fingers crossed I get seed from them đŸ™‚