[Rob the rake]

My preferred method, with beds slightly raised and bordered with recycled decking planks. Plenty of compost is added and all stones removed, the soil being knocked down to a very fine tilth. Sowing can be very early and germination is virtually 100%, so very thin sowing is advised.

The dreaded carrot fly is almost absent, although their presence does build up a little with years of repeat sowings, though I've got away with doing this for 10 straight seasons before needing to give it a break after the amount of fly damage reached nuisance level. A couple of years break and it's all fine and dandy again.
Crops are massive, roots are lovely and clean and there's no issue with harvesting when the weather's dodgy. Win/win.

A tip for easy harvesting of mature carrots - press down hard on top of the carrot till you feel it give and push down into the soil (this breaks all the fine lateral root hairs holding it fast) and you can then pull them straight out by hand. You'll come across the odd awkward customer, but mostly it works like a charm.

[rowlandwells]

I think we may do the same carrot growing like you Rob the Rake my wife is the carrot grower we usually sow in a peat based slightly raised bed no stones and we had to invest in  carrot fly netting that does the trick that keeps that carrot fly pest at bay

[Rob the rake]

I think we may do the same carrot growing like you Rob the Rake my wife is the carrot grower we usually sow in a peat based slightly raised bed no stones and we had to invest in  carrot fly netting that does the trick that keeps that carrot fly pest at bay

Indoors or outdoors? It seems that the indoor location baffles the flies to a certain extent, for whatever reason. They're said to fly very low to the ground, but I've had bad fly damage in quite high-sided beds (outdoors) and despite the fact that they fly at a low level, surely they can be lifted over the bed sides by a stiff breeze, you'd think. Whatever the mechanics of it, indoor growing - and the door's left open all through the warmer weather - seems to keep 'em at bay to a large extent. I've been thinking of making a mesh panel to fit the greenhouse door for these times, which may eliminate fly damage almost entirely.