What's in a carrot...

So I was featured on the frontpage of Uppsalatidningen, and got at chance to count my collection of chins. The hubby and I are discussing in which way we are going to loose weight this time (we became goldmembers of the Weightwatchers three years ago, and then I got pregnant...). To leave questions about my weight the article was good. I've nevered been interviewed by real journalists before and was a bit nervous. How would I look in another person's eye - or two persons' since there were a photografer involved. And the text turned out to be very good, as well as the pictures. Since Uppsalatidningen is a free newspaper we picked three copies, just to be able to send some to elderly relatives that might be interested.

To grow seeds in leftover cardboardboxes for eggs and boxes for takeaway turned out to be a good idea. They are easy to handle and watering the seeds is a piece of cake; you only remove the cardboard and pour a small amount of water in the plastic box - just enough to cover the bottom, return cardboard and let it soak for a while. Seems to dry out fast, though, I may be forced to water twice dayly. I hope my little seedling will grow so fast that I can replant them into bigger pots soon.

Newly 'hatched' seedlings:

• Tigernut (two out of six, perhaps a few more will sprout, but one of the nuts are definately going moldy).
  
• Alaska Scarlet, nasturtium (six out of six)
  
• St Clements, nasturtium (five out of three, I put two seeds in each bowl if I have enough of them)
  

This week I harvested the first carrot that actually looked like a carrot. It was about five centimeters (two inches) long, and slightly orange. I haven't planned for the carrots to grow much bigger since this will shorten the time it takes between sowing and harvest, and I have a vague memory of baby carrots tasting sweeter. Hm, I'll think twice about this. After taking its' picture I ate the carrot and some of the tops since I now know that the tops are edible too. To tell you the truth the tops tasted much better than the carrot - that was bitter as ****.

Now I have two mysteries to solve; why do my carrots taste bitter, and why don't we eat carrot tops, when the tops actually tastes good? What have I missed?