Growing and Planting Beets and Swiss Chard
Tips on Gardening and Cooking With the Beetroot and Greens
Sep 15, 2008
Beets are a vegetable known best for its deep, rich color and ability to stain whatever it comes in contact with. While the red color is the most popular, beets can be found in white, yellow and variegated colors. Beets like full sun to part shade with well drained soils. Easy to grow and good to eat, beets are a very popular root vegetable to grow in the garden.
Beet Varieties
Beets come in the usual red, but also in many other colors. Shapes that beets can be found in are large and medium round, flattened, tapered, and small mini sizes. Of the many varieties, the more popular or stand-out ones are:
- Sweetheart – Round, open pollinated, sweet, tops great used for greens, about 60 days to maturity
- Early Wonder – Flat globe shape, open pollinated, sweet, about 50 days to maturity
- Gladiator – Round, hybrid variety, good for canning preservation, about 50 days to maturity
- Little Ball Mini – Silver dollar size upon maturity at about 50 days, round, tops good for greens
- Chioggia – Round, white and red interior in a circular pattern (also known as bulls-eye), about 50 days to maturity
- Golden – Round, butter to gold in color, about 55 days to maturity
- Abino/Albina – Round, white in color, about 60 days to maturity
Planting
Beets are a biennial plant but usually grown as an annual crop. Seeds tend to not do as well if transplanted so sow directly in the soil. Beets can be grown in all garden zones of the US and like neutral, well-drained soil and regular watering. Apply regular mulch for feeding and for reduction of weeds.
When sowing beet seeds, start in about 1/2 inch to 1 inch deep soil, about 3 inches apart. If planting multiple rows, plant about 1 1/2 to 2 feet apart. For beets throughout the season, plant in 3 to 4 intervals. As the seeds germinate and sprouts form on the surface, thin out leaving the strongest left to grow. The thinnings and subsequent leaves can be used for salads or for sautéed greens.
Pests to be on the lookout for eating beets are leafminers. If you suspect them feeding on your crop, cover the seedlings and plants with a floating row cover to protect them. Gophers also like to eat beets so take precautions if they are present. To prevent diseases such as leaf spot and scab, avoid wetting foliage if possible when watering the roots, and keep weeds to a minimum along with avoiding overcrowding of the plants themselves.
Harvest and Storage
This vegetable has both edible roots and greens. Harvest when they get to the size of your liking. Usually, beets need about 60 days for growing time so harvest a couple of days after or anytime before that. For most varieties of beets, once they get to be larger than 3 inches in diameter, the beet flesh becomes tough and fibrous. Check each variety for optimum sizing at maturity.
Beets can be stored for about a week or so in the refrigerator’s produce compartment. They are best used fresh, and leaving a couple of inches of the stem and the taproot on the beet will ensure best quality. Leaving a portion of the stems (leaves) will also reduce the amount of bleeding during cooking.
Cooking with Beets
Beet roots can be used in many ways. When handling them, though, be careful to avoid breaking the skins as this allows the color to bleed when cooking. After cooking, the skins slip off easily. Beets can be steamed, roasted, baked, microwaved and eaten raw. They can also be deep fried, and sliced thinly and dried in the oven as chips. The leaves of young beet plants can be stir fried or eaten as fresh green.
For a recipe using fresh beets, check out Roasted Beet and Orange Salad.
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