Beetroot has never been an immensely popular vegetable, as our British empire heritage has always proclaimed beetroots to be pickled in glass jars and used mainly to add a splash of red colour to salads and sandwiches.
Beet It – How to Grow Beetroot
These small red globes, often the size of a golf ball, have an established culinary position in Eastern European countries where beetroot is a staple in everyday dishes.
Nowadays, some of these recipes have leaked to the rest of the world and we are using beetroots in roasts, soups, salads, smoothies and juices. Due to its sweeter nature and bright red colour, beetroot finds additional applications as an ingredient for baking sweets and cakes.
Root to Leaf
The leaves are also edible, and they can add to your weekly serving of greens as a substitute for spinach. In saying that, the most valuable part of the beetroot plant is the upper part of the root, or the globe, which likes to swell just below the ground surface while a single tapered root digs deep down in search of water.
How to Grow Beetroot
It is important to work the soil prior to sowing with plenty of organic matter such as grass clippings. Beetroots also like a borderline alkaline soil so the addition of potash in the form of firewood ash is another component (but don’t use ash from treated timber).
Seeds are a clump of smaller seeds; soak them for 12 hours in water before sowing in situ (beetroot does not like transplanting). The cluster of seed will germinate several plants in one spot to be thinned and replanted as soon as they develop true leaves. I prefer to leave seedlings clumped together as nature intended. Beetroot don’t like direct sun and should be planted in a shaded position; alternatively, they can be sown along a row of peas or broadbeans so that the taller plants can cast some shade on the beetroot bed.
While the juice is an amazing natural food colouring, beetroot stains may ruin clothes and be hard to get off kitchen utensils and benches; always wear aprons, use old chopping boards and do not leave beetroot on white kitchen surfaces. Continuous sowing will provide an ongoing harvest, so just pull what you need for your weekly requirements. Lift the roots off the ground, wring the top part and consume the green part of the plant on the same day in soups or stir fries. The beetroot globe can be stored in the refrigerator for weeks.
Maintain
Beetroots need to be watered sparingly every day if the soil is free draining and exposed to direct sun. The leaves may wilt as soon as the moisture level decreases in the soil. However, over-watering can cause roots to split and damage the plant.
Harvest
Harvest the beetroot as soon as the root starts to appear above the ground; anything up to the size of a tennis ball is ideal for raw consumption. Anything bigger than that may become a bit woody and can be used for stews
and roasts.
Store
Store your beets in the refrigerator in a perforated plastic bag in the vegetable crisper drawer. They will keep for one to three months. Diced and packed into freezer containers, they will freeze well for at least eight months.
Nutritional Stars
Beetroot usually come in three main varieties: red, candy and yellow, and will vary in size. Look out for beetroots with their edible leaves still intact as they are rich in calcium, iron and vitamins A and C.
