Beets
Featured Recipes: Gardening Tips: Baby Beets
If you’re planning to serve your tender baby beets whole and unpeeled, try hilling the soil around their shoulders as they grow. This will keep the skin from hardening over and losing its smooth, red appearance. Late Great Beets
Storage beets need to be planted early in the season to give them plenty of time to make full size. But did you know you could start a second crop of smaller beets just for fresh fall eating? Sow these six weeks before the last expected frost date in your area. You’ll be rewarded with tender, tasty beets that you can harvest all the way up to the first hard freeze. They’re great steamed in a covered pan with butter or even sliced raw in salads. And the tender greens are delicious too. The cool weather keeps them mild and fresh tasting.
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The pleasure of growing these delicious roots and harvesting them from your very own garden is unsurpassed. Accordingly, we present six varieties which will meet all beet-lovers’ needs! Beet tops, or ‘greens’, are consumed with enthusiasm by many folks: eaten together with beets, they ensure a dinner rich in vitamins and minerals, eminently tasty and comforting. Sow as early as the soil can be worked when the soil has warmed to about 50°F. Young, tender beets make the most choice eating. Grate beets on salads to add color and nutritional value, or steam lightly and dress with olive oil or sweet butter and lemon juice or a little wine vinegar. Roast whole beets in the oven to retain their rich flavor for special, more hearty fare. (Don’t forget to roast extra beets and serve them sliced and chilled over baby greens with crumbled goat cheese, toasted pine nuts, finely diced scallions with a raspberry vinaigrette. Big yum.)
Average seed life: 2 years
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#1305 Kestrel Baby Beets: 45-55 days
A graceful, globe-shaped gem, Kestrel produces sweet, tender baby beets. An American hybrid developed to mature early yet hold well in the garden, it has deep ruby-colored flesh that is soft-crisp with a delicate, luscious flavor. Harvest these babies at 1” in diameter. Terrific for roasting with other baby root vegetables. We even loved it raw in the fields! (F1.)
Packet of 220 Seeds / $2.85
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#1310 Scarlet Supreme Beets: 40-50 days
Scarlet Supreme is our top choice for an early-maturing, traditional ‘tall top’ beet and an excellent choice for beginners because rapid results are guaranteed. It is a perfect all-purpose beet for fresh eating, canning or mouth-watering pickled beets. Scarlet Supreme matures quickly, so you can get two sowings from one season. All beet tops are vitamin-rich and these tops are lush and deep green. Steam the baby beets first; when they’re almost done, add the chopped greens, steam three more minutes and serve with sweet butter. Or, warm the cockles of your heart on a chilly fall evening with homemade borscht. (F1.)
Packet of 220 Seeds / $3.25
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#1320 Golden Beets: 50-60 days
Breeders have been tinkering with unusual colors for many years and Golden beets are the perfect result. Golden is an heirloom beet - pale red on the outside, juicy golden orange on the inside and in high demand by gourmets. The vigorously growing tops are light green with contrasting pale golden veins. Pale-colored beets have low germination so soak the seed in bathtub-warm water for one hour, then sow 1” apart. Harvest Golden at about 2” in diameter to enjoy it at it’s finest flavor and texture. (OP.)
Packet of 110 Seeds / $3.25
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#1330 Chioggia Beets: 45-55 days
From Italy hails this heirloom striped beet - a most unusual rosy-red, round beet on the outside with alternating rings of white and bright pink on the inside. Exceptionally sweet, steam Chioggia lightly to avoid ‘bleeding’. Avoid overcooking to retain their delicate, rich flavor. Or, try coarsely grating them on top of a salad for an unusual garnish. Beet green lovers take note: Chioggia’s greens were one of the top taste test winners. They are paler green than usual, with a flavor and texture of fine, young, Swiss chard. (OP.)
Packet of 220 Seeds / $3.05
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#1340 Albina Vereduna Beets: 50-60 days
For those who crave the unusual, we present an heirloom ‘albino’ beet originating in Holland. This is a white beet with a sweet taste and a texture that is a bit more like that of a potato. Steam Albina Vereduna lightly, do not overcook or its color will turn a bit gray. Grated raw, Albina Vereduna is lovely in salads, particularly on top of gorgeous red lettuces dressed with a fruity vinaigrette made with fresh orange juice. Toss in a few roasted pecans or filberts and you have a quick masterpiece which is also high in calcium and Vitamin A. (OP.)
Packet of 110 Seeds / $3.25
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#1350 Bull's Blood Beets: 35-60 days
Our Bull’s Blood beet is grown for its deeply-colored red leaves. For the drama of radicchio without its bitterness, grow it as baby greens for scissor-harvest at 35 days or so. As Bull’s Blood greens mature, they turn dark burgundy and have a rich flavor. The slightly globe-shaped beets taste great and are so intensely red that the juice could be used for food coloring! Allow a few plants to flower - the wine-red plants are highly ornamental and attract pollinating insects to your garden. (OP.)
Packet of 110 Seeds / $2.95
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