It looks like it was Beet Week last week, at least in terms of photographs. The top photo is of baby Golden Beets from Renee's Seeds. I sowed the seeds for those beets on January 13 in paper pots indoors under my light setup. I didn't note when I planted them out, probably early February. Since beet seeds are compound seeds you usually get more than one seedling per seed. Those babies are the thinnings from the clumps of seedlings. Each clump is now down to one seedling per paper pot and I'll leave them to grow to full size. I cut the tops off of the baby beets, wrapped the roots together in foil and roasted them in the oven (400 or 450F) for about 30 minutes. The warm beets were run under cold water a bit so that I could handle them, the skins rubbed off and then I dressed the warm beets with some olive oil, sherry vinegar, salt and pepper and they were promptly consumed with great delight by my husband and me.
The bottom photo is of a huge Chioggia beet, probably sown at the end of last August and planted out in mid-September (I don't have a record of sowing Chioggia beets between then and January of this year and that monster didn't get that big in 2 months). It sat there through the winter, hardly growing, and then in the last month it ballooned up. I was half expecting it to bolt suddenly, but it showed no signs of a flower stalk. Surprisingly enough it was not at all woody or fibrous. I thought it would take forever to roast it whole (and I didn't want to waste the effort of cooking it if it turned out to be woody) so I peeled it, cut it vertically into 8 wedges, placed the wedges on a bed of garlic greens and thyme and drizzled them with olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, covered tightly with foil and roasted at 450F for about 45 minutes, then finished it uncovered for another 15 minutes. I served it with a drizzle of sherry vinegar (my favorite vinegar with beets, have you noticed?). Wow, it was really good. Here's one thing that I noticed about Chioggia beets, if you roast them whole with the skins on the flesh comes out pink, when I roasted the big one cut into wedges the flesh came out white, either way you lose the pink stripes that can be seen in the raw root.
So, unfortunately, I lost my record of what I harvested and the weights for last week, but here's what I can remember.
Renee's Golden Beets
Chioggia Beet
Butterhead lettuce - 1 lb est.
Green Garlic
Fava beans (the first!)
Golden Chard
13 eggs
If you would like to see what other garden bloggers have been harvesting lately, head on over to Daphne's Dandelions, the home of Harvest Monday.
That is one veggie I did not grow last year but am trying 5 or 6 varieties this year. Can't wait to sample a freshly grown garden beet ! Lovely, Michelle. Will try your recipes !
ReplyDeleteI love beets. The more simply prepared the better. Unfortunately, I'm not getting good germination rates outside at the moment. I might have to sow a few more indoors.
ReplyDeleteI've never tried golden beets before...heard they were particularly sweet. Hopefully, I'll get a few this summer.
Can't say I've ever eaten a beet....I don't know why, but it wasn't one I ever grew up on. It may be time to expand my horizons.
ReplyDeleteWow! Your beats are beautiful! I've been growing beat seeds as salad greens as I didn't know any gourmet ways to use or cook the whole beats. I'll have to let some of the beat seeds grow next winter and try roasting them as this sound delicious!
ReplyDeleteThose are beautiful. I like beets, I just don't remember to eat them all that often.
ReplyDeletemiss m, last year was the first time I grew beets in many years. I had forgotten how good they are fresh from the garden.
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Thomas, Beets just won't germinate in cold soil. Last year I had two successive early sowings fail utterly, not one seed germinated. Those were the Burpee's Golden and I thought it was that variety or that packet of seeds, but it was really my ignorance. When I started them indoors they did fine. I think the golden beets are the best tasting.
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Ribbit, Never? Give them a try, especially the golden ones. I've had friends who swear they don't like beets try the golden ones and they actually liked them.
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A Kitchen Garden, Only the greens, hmmm, those are good, but you do need to try the roots too. :) Actually, one reason why I like to grow my own beets is because the store bought ones always have really beaten up greens that I usually end up tossing in the compost. I like the greens.
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Stefaneener, Yeah, that's a funny thing about beets, unless I grow them myself I don't seem to buy them very often either. My husband loves them and when I wasn't growing them he would beg me every so often to buy some beets. Oh yeah, beets, sure I'll get some, sometime . . .
We both love beetroot, which reminds me, I was going to do a beetroot post!
ReplyDeleteI don’t grow beet. I don’t know why, it just never got into my seed list. But when I see these pictures and read all this recipes, maybe I should try growing it.
ReplyDeleteThey look wonderful, and so early in the season. Do you eat the leaves too? I'm not that keen on beets (funny, it's about the only food I don't like!) but we used to grow spinach beet for the leaves because it was less likely to bolt.
ReplyDeleteI gotta say, I'm really not a beet fan. I wish I loved them because they are so pretty, but I just can't take the taste. I hate not growing a major food crop especially a pretty one. But I've tried and I will just never like them. I even cut the ribs out of my Swiss chard and toss them because they taste too beety for me. A nice harvest anyway even if they are beets ;>
ReplyDeleteNice beets. I know you were struggling with which type of golden to go with...it looks like you made a good choice? I will be planting a few goldens this year but mostly sticking with the pure red ones as they are my favorites. The goldens would be too but they are always so slow to grow in my garden.:)
ReplyDeleteI tend to grow beets on an every other year cycle because I am the only one that really will eat them well in my family. My daughter will eat a little bit of them but honestly I am the only one that really enjoys them. So I grow a small bit every other year or so to get my fix. Since I grew them last year and am still working on using up the very small batch of pickled beets - I chose not to grow any in 2010. Reading about your beautiful baked beets makes me wish I had grown a least a few!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful beets, I love baby beets but I've never tried the leaves, don't know why.
ReplyDeleteMy beets did not germinate well this year, the sprouts are tiny and weir looking, they've been sitting in the cells for long time and never develop true leaves, the seeds are 3 yrs old from John Scheepers, I should buy a new pack and try again.
That's my favorite way to cook beets. In my mind, the simplest, easiest and most tasty.
ReplyDeleteSo beets don't germinate in cold soils. My soil doesn't really get cold so I have good germinating rates, but then the beets don't grow much until later on in spring. I was thinking day length was the culprit. I am wondering if it just temperature... Food for though... Next January I have to try growing them inside or under cover.
That is a huge beet. I always grow Chioggia, such a striking beet it is always worth the space.
ReplyDeleteJan, more beet lovers :), beets seem to be a love 'em or hate 'em vegetable.
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vrtlarica, beets and other root vegetables are easy to overlook in the garden, they don't have the panache of a beautiful sun ripened tomato. If you like eating beets then you'll love growing them, they are so good when they are fresh out of the garden, so sweet.
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chaiselongue, I do eat the leaves. Lately I've been mixing them with the rapini and rapa that has been coming out of the garden. I also make a galette with the greens.
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Daphne, It's ok to hate a few vegetables :). I can't stand anything slimy - okra, purslane and nopales are on my no-grow list.
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Mr. H., The Golden Beets from Renee's Seeds are a winner so far and now that I finally got some of the Burpee's Golden to germinate they are growing nicely as well. It's going to come down to whichever one tastes best. If it's a tie the Renee's will win since it's easiest to find those seeds around here.
kitsapFG, pickled beets, yum, I need to make some! My husband and I both love beets so we eat all I can grow, if I could grow more we would eat them.
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Mac, If you like chard you'll probably like beet greens, they taste much the same only a bit more "beety". I wonder what the problem with the seedlings is, do they die or just refuse to grow. How frustrating!
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Angela, simplest is generally best for most vegetables, especially really fresh ones from the garden. (besides, I'm a lazy cook).
I've been reading that beets are sensitive to temperature, they prefer a range between 55 and 75F, one book said between 60 and 70F. They supposedly bolt if temperatures get either too hot or too cold. I always thought that it was the lengthening days of spring that triggered bolting, like most biennials. Hmm, got more reading to do . . .
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Dan, Chioggia is a wonderful beet, beautiful, easy to grow, and tasty. My favorite though is the golden beet, I really like the flavor. Why else would I keep trying time and time again to get the boogers to grow!
I have ordered heirloom Crapaudine beets seeds from Baker Creek. Typically I grow Early Wonder from Lake Valley; but I wanted to see if there was difference.
ReplyDeleteThe heat is heading my way in Bakersfield; so I won't be able to plant them until September/October. Sad because I love pickled beets.
Hi Maybelline, Oh it does get hot in your part of the state! I haven't tried either of those beets but I imagine they are delicious. There's only a couple of varieties of beets I've grown that I haven't liked, a white one and a golden skinned white one, I can't remember the names now . . . But I'm staying away from the white fleshed beets these days.
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