Roots & tubers
Beets
Spring and August sowings; roots plus greens.
- Outside
- Direct mid Apr, again early Aug
- Where
- Raised bed or in ground
- Sun
- Full sun; tolerates light shade
- Water
- Deep soak twice a week; swings make woody rings
- Harvest
- Jun to Jul, then Sep to Oct
Care
- Water
- Consistent moisture matters most: a deep soak once or twice a week, every 3 to 4 days in July heat, with the finger test deciding. Swinging between wet and dry writes itself into the root as pale, woody rings.
- Sow
- Sow in mid April and again in early August, half an inch deep and an inch or two apart, in rows a foot to 18 inches apart. Every seed is really a small cluster, so seedlings come up in bunches: thin to 3 to 4 inches, cutting not pulling, and eat the thinnings as greens.
- Feed
- Beets shrug off lean soil, so a shovel of compost or castings worked in at sowing is plenty. Go easy on nitrogen and skip the liquid feed, since a surplus pushes leafy tops at the root's expense. Corky, black-flecked roots point to low boron, but let a soil test prompt any fix.
- Ready
- Pull anywhere between a walnut and a small apple in size, roughly 50 to 60 days from sowing; the smaller roots are tenderest. Twist off the tops to cook as greens. The August sowing only sweetens as fall cools.
- Trouble
- Pale winding tunnels in the leaves: leafminer, so pull and bin mined leaves and the root grows on, or net the row. An early flower stalk: a cold snap after the seedlings leafed out, little to do but resow. Spotty foliage: leaf-spot disease, water early so tops dry and space for air.
In a bag?
- Yes
- Up to a 3–5 gal bag.
- Water
- Daily in July and August; bags dry far faster than a bed. 20 to 30 sec on the shower dial until it runs from the seams.
- Sow
- Sow a pinch of seed and thin to a few plants per bag.
Two crops in one sowing: beets grown for roots that roast and tops that cook like the chard they are related to. April and August rows cover early summer and fall.
Growing
Direct sow mid April and once more in early August; each wrinkled seed is a cluster of several, so thinning to two inches is not optional, and the thinnings are the first greens. Pull from golf ball to tennis ball size; the August round matures into fall cool and tastes better for it.
Varieties
Detroit Dark Red is the dependable classic; Touchstone Gold keeps its color in the pan and off the cutting board; Cylindra slices into even rounds for pickling.
Pests
The same fly that mines spinach works beet tops, leaving pale winding tunnels; pull tunneled leaves for the compost and the root keeps growing, or net the row when the greens are the point. Flea beetle pinholes up top cost the roots nothing.
In the kitchen
Roots roast wrapped and slip their skins under a thumb. The tops go in the pan with garlic, because botanically they are chard in all but name.