Vegetables - Beetroot

Beetroot is sweet, and some people don't like it, but I do!

I sow beetroot outside, in April, and do more than one sowing. The seed is quite big and easy to handle. The photos below show a line of seedlings - far too close together! The plants are attractive, with bright green leaves, and red stems and veins in the leaves. The beets (which are the part you eat) grow below the ground, as part of the root. Sometimes they push out of the ground (especially if I haven't thinned them well enough!) but that doesn't seem to matter.

I use the variety Boltardy. I have tried a heritage variet, but it didn't taste right to me.

You can harvest them when the beets are big enough to make it worth your while. You can carry on harvesting them well into winter. They get a bit woody, but still edible. To cook - cut off the stems, but don't bother trimming the root or the base of the stems. Boil in water until you can stick a knife in easily. This takes some time but not the two hours that some books suggest! Also, when they are cooked, the skin just rubs off (messy, but satisfying, somehow!) together with the stem base and roots, although there may be a bit of root which needs trimming. Beetroot tends to "bleed" which is why you don't trim it close to the beet before boiling, since it is easy to remove the unwanted part after boiling. I admit that the red from the cooked beet does tend to get everywhere!

My recipes for beetroot:

Beetroot and onion salad
Beetroot risotto

Seeds