EDIBLE GARDEN
Drought-tolerant, productive and compact, beetroot is tasty, easy and rewarding to grow
With their sweet, mellow, earthy flavour and colourful flesh, beetroots are a joy to eat. Sown early, they can be harvested for summer salads; sown later, they provide a crop that lasts through the cold months. Packed with vitamin C, manganese, folate and fibre, beets are great for health. And, even better, they are a doddle to grow.
In early spring, boltresistant varieties (such as ‘Boltardy’) are the best option. For later sowings, there is a huge choice including elongated and miniature roots, white and colourful forms (‘Chioggia’ is striped pink and white and ‘Burpee’s Golden’ has yellow flesh), and traditional deep-red varieties (such as ‘Bull’s Blood’). The different colours look fabulous growing in rows side by side in the vegetable patch.
Soak seed in warm water for half an hour before sowing. In early spring, sow one per module in trays in the greenhouse or on a sunny windowsill; between late April and July, sow direct in sun, 4cm apart, 2.5cm deep.
Most beetroot ‘seed’ contains multiple seeds, so thin seedlings in module trays to one per module, and thin those in the ground to one every 10cm. Water seedlings regularly until established, but then water very sparingly, otherwise you’ll end up with lots of leaf and not a great deal of root.
Harvest beetroot when they are small for eating fresh, especially if you are going to have them raw. But let them grow to full size for storing. The last batch should all be lifted before the temperature dips past -4°C. Store in newspaper and sand in a wooden box, in a dark, dry place (such as a cool pantry or shed).
Beets are delicious boiled or roasted, but can be enjoyed raw in salads or used as a healthy ingredient to bake chocolate or red velvet cakes. Raw roots are often juiced, but nutritionists advise only having a little juice at a time, as beetroot is potent in liquid form. The red-ribbed leaves can also be eaten: pluck them young from the bottom of the plant and toss them into salads for heaps of nutrition and colour.