Since plants get their food from their leaves, I'm guessing that if the tops are removed, you may not get very good carrots...?

good point :/

Carol is correct. I would wait until they are ready to pick. Usually I know my carrots are ready to pick by pulling some soil away from the root base. When they are the right size I pick them.

There's no Publix in your neighborhood?

ya there's publix

My dumb question: If I tray-start the top of a Publix carrot, and it sprouts roots, and I plant it... (if it survives) will it eventually go to seed, developing a top similar to Queen Ann's Lace? I can't fine a picture online of this... all are of carrots pulled when mature.

Carrot flowers don't get as tall as Queen Anne's lace or as big.

Carrots are so very cheap to buy and they store so very well. Are they really worth dedicating growing space to ?

Florida_Joes, it's just fun to grow them, and you can get varieties you don't get in the stores. I usually grow Chantenays every year, simply because they are tenderer and sweeter than store-bought carrots, plus they do well in containers, since they are so short.

Dirtygardener, I have to admit I'm curious about the little bitty bite size round parisienne carrots I heard of somewhere. I wonder if they could be grown vertically somehow. That would be so cool!

Florida_Joes, I know people who grow them in window boxes attached to the side of their house in vertical rows. Beets, too.