What do Dwight and I have in common.... the love of BEETS. Yes I said BEETS. A portion of my life's attention has been directed towards the development of the largest beet known to man. I speak of a table beet or what some call beet root, not sugar beets. I will post my success and failures as I chase the elusive world record beet. Family renowned beet expert Richard Glassford Sr. (my beloved father) is my beet root confidant. Both Grandma and Grandpa G. have been growing quality beet roots. You can check out Grandpa G's family record on our main blog page.
Beet seeds are a compound seed, made of many connected little seeds. These seeds are some of my Detroit Red line. I have some large ones still in the ground that I am saving for seed production. We are carefully selecting only the big ones.
If you look closely you can see how the multiple seeds are clustered together. It is easy to see in the top seed.
It is no secret that this is the year of the giant beet. Many of us are working on the perfect culture to maximize our beets genetic potential. We planted some of our beet seeds two weeks ago. This is one of our seedlings. Just think... this could be a world champion.... or maybe just dinner.
You can see the seed attached to the top of a leaf. All three seedlings in view came from one seed cluster. I culled each little peat pot to one plant. Last night we enjoyed the little culled beet greens on our salad... tasty!
Did you Know That
* Scientific name is Beta vulgaris
* Native to the Mediterranean
* Leaves thought to been eaten before written history, how did they figure this out?
* French chefs polularies beets in the 1800's
* Beet powder used as a coloring agent in food and clothing
* Many colors of beet root: red, white green, pink, purple
* Some have beautiful tree ring like patterns in the root... go ahead give a root a cut and check it out.
* Most of the beets grown commercially end up in a can
* Grandma and Grandpa G. prefer beets pickled
* Beets are an important part of the Eastern European diet
* Swiss chard is closely related to beets
* Beet greens are better for you than beet roots
* Beets are a power food containing anti cancer properties
* One of the only crops you can eat the leaves and roots
* Eat too many beets and you might see your urine or stool (pooh) turn pink or red, beeturia
* People with kidney or gall stones should avoid beets (oxalates)
* There are many modern varieties of beets, Red Ace is the most commonly planted
* Beets can be used to make homemade wine... interesting!
* A cup of beets is about 75 calories
* Ancient Greeks and Romans enjoyed beets...they really liked them
* Sugar beets are about 20% sugar and beetroot (table beets the red ones you normally eat) are around 10% sugar
* If you like spinach you should like beet greens
I have been putting my little beet babies under lights for a few hours every night. During the day they are placed next to a south facing window. The leaves you see are called cotyledons or seed leaves. Some of them are starting to get their true leaves.
What people say about beets (at least those that are living with us)
Richie "its the way to a woman's heart"
Heather " the bigger they get the nastier they taste"
Lynne "it turns everything pink"
Big Rich " Grandpa is the beet master... he knows them like the back of his hand...grandpa makes the beets happy with lots of water
Jim "baby beet leaves taste great"
Rachel "Daddy gave me . 50 cents to try my first beet... I was bribed"
If you read this post please let us know what you think of beets.
As you can tell, by prematurely planting my red beets, I am slightly excited to start our garden. We got our second shipment of vegetable seeds this past week. Here are a few of the new varieties we are growing this year. I am expecting two more shipments and we are going to buy a few plants from the local nursery. It will be Lynne's goal to keep me out of the local nurseries. Last year Richie and I would sneak off and go buy some plants. Spring is a wonderful thing. If you want a little bit of spring, plant some beets in a pot and stick it next to the window. You can grow some fabulous greens and maybe have a few beet roots for supper.
What a fascinating post! Loved it, and no, I didn't know all those facts about beets. I don't think I've ever tried beet greens, and I have definitely missed out--I love spinach--so I'll have to try some. Can't wait to read your follow up post about how big these babies get. I'm also curious about the way you prepare them. Do you just boil them, put them in a stir fry, what? There are loads of beets in France, and they're really cheap, but I'm not sure how to cook them. I also never really liked them as a kid, but I am willing to give them another chance.
ReplyDeleteThey are lookin good and they taste great! I never would have thought that I would like beet greens :)
ReplyDeleteI like beets every now and then now that I am an adult, but like Rachel I remember being paid and bribed to eat them :)
ReplyDeleteI am going to commit to growing a bigger beet and pumpkin!!! And in return Dad... you will get me a little pig!!! (and a horse)
ReplyDeleteTiff,
ReplyDeleteI like my beets boiled or pickled. My Mom boils them an applies little apple cider vinegar and olive oil... a little toss and you're ready to dig in. If you have never cooked fresh beets, boil them til tender, about 45 minutes,then you need to remove the outer skin of the root. Careful because they are very hot. I would love to walk an open market in France. You can steam, saute or boil the greens for tasty greens. Let us know if you give them a try.
I will definitely try them and let you know how it goes. They have several varieties and so many other weird root vegetables I have never even heard of before. The types of lettuce and greens they have here is astonishing.
ReplyDeleteThe produce here is definitely one of the best things about this country--so fresh and so many choices. For example, I have discovered leeks since moving here, and I LOVE them. The larger markets even sell mangosteen if you can believe (the fruit of XanGo juice). We were so shocked to see those imported from Thailand. You really can find just about every fruit and vegetable, although the imported US grapefruits (from Florida) are by far better than the ones grown locally. (And French people reluctantly agree--they have such a superiority complex that drives me crazy! But they are nice people. . .)
Beet greens... yum. I have never tried eating baby beats. But I love sprouts so I don;t see how they would taste bad. beets are amazing.
ReplyDelete