If your carrots come out forked and stubby, they hit something on the way down. Carrots are roots, and they grow exactly as deep and straight as the soil lets them.
Before you sow, work the bed deep and crumble out the stones and clumps. Sow the tiny seeds shallow, keep them damp until they sprout (this is the patient part), then thin them so each has room. Patience under the ground pays off above it.
Grow something today. 🥕