Underground Beets

Beta vulgaris
Family: Amaranthaceae
COOL SEASON ANNUAL ROOT VEGETABLE

Beets are an annual, cool-season crop that are easy to grow and provide color and nutrition to the diet. They have an earthy flavor: beets contain a substance called geosmin, which is responsible for that fresh soil scent in your garden following a spring rain. People are quite sensitive to geosmin, even in very low doses, and the responses to beets vary—many people love their flavor. But some, including the former president Obama and his wife, aren’t quite as appreciative of the flavor of beets.

HISTORY

Beets are native to the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts of Europe and North Africa and have been growing wild since ancient times. Originally this species (Beta vulgaris) was grown for its foliage used as a type of spinach—and it is still used this way, and well-known as the vegetable chard or Swiss chard. During the 1500s it was realized that the roots contained a significant amount of sugar and selections were made to emphasize larger tubers and thus was born the beet. The roots were not entirely ignored before this time. The ancient Greeks and Romans sometimes used the roots as medicine. In mythology, beets are considered an aphrodisiac as the goddess of love, Aphrodite, was rumored to have consumed the roots to enhance her attractiveness. Many Greeks also believed that eating from the same beet would cause a man and a woman to fall in love.

USES

Beets are eaten raw, boiled, roasted, and pickled. There is a commercial selection of beetroot that is used for the commercial production of sugar. Beets are also employed for their red color which is used to color food and other items red or pink, due to the presence of betanin, a compound that is also often used as a commercial red pigment for food. The red color compound betanin is not broken down in the body, and in higher concentrations, may temporarily cause urine or stools to assume a reddish color, in the case of urine a condition called beeturia. This condition is absolutely harmless: the effect may cause initial concern due to the visual similarity to what appears to be blood in the stool or urine.

A very healthy, fermented drink called beet kvass is made in Russia and Ukraine. Here is instructions on how to make it.

Here is a list of 25 innovative beet recipes.

And here is some simple instructions on pickling beets.

PRESERVATION

The best way to preserve a good beet harvest is pickling them with or without other vegetables.

GROWING

SEASON & PLANTING
Beets are a cool season annual. They are planted from seed directly into the soil. For most root crops, it is not a good idea to obtain plant starts from a nursery—they very quickly root out the small containers and don’t appreciate root disturbance. The seeds are large and easy to plant directly into the soil, about as deep as they are large. It is important to space beets out so that the roots have enough room to develop. As seeds germinate, thin out excess seedlings and use as microgreens.

SOIL & NUTRITION
Plant in amended garden soil, but perhaps avoid too much fertilizer—especially nitrogen. In general, root crops grown in soils with too much nitrogen will produce lots of leafy growth (essentially, chard) but not much in the way of roots. You can plant beets in the less fertile, but well-drained parts of your garden bed. Loose soil, even sandy soil, will produce wonderful beetroots.

TEMPERATURE & SUN EXPOSURE
Beets usually aren’t sensitive to our brief cold-snaps. The foliage may be damaged if we get extended, catastrophic cold in the low teens °F. But plants should come back with no problem. Plants are best in full to part sun. As summer approaches, they may begin to flower (bolt). Harvest beetroots before they start to do this.

WATER
Beetroots like moderate, but steady water in well-drained soils. Be careful with soils that are too clay and don’t drain well.

HARVESTING
Often, new gardeners may wait to allow the beets to get enormous. But the larger the beets get, the more woody, and less flavorful they are, and the moderately sized roots will be more tender, flavorful, and moist. The tops of the beetroots are often sticking out of the ground a little bit when they are ready, but if they aren’t, gently excavate the soil away from the base of the plant to see if they are developed. Gently dig up roots using a hand trowel when they are large enough to use for food.

WILDLIFE
Beetroots have few pest in our region. During the warmer parts of the cool season, they may host some moth larvae on the foliage. This causes unsightly holes in the leaves but does not render them inedible and doesn’t significantly effect the roots in all but the largest infestations. Any herbivorous animal may eat the leaves, though they seem to be slightly less attractive than some of the more tender greens.

INVASIVENESS
Beets do not seem to escape cultivation in Arizona.

POPULAR SELECTIONS
Most beet varieties perform well here and are chosen more for color than performance.

*always be open to new varieties of vegetables and herbs for our region—new selections and ancient heirlooms that work for us in our region are constantly appearing on the market. Only beware of unknown varieties if one is buying from seed companies from other regions, or if a variety is being offered by a corporate chain or nursery that buys from giant wholesalers that ignore regional differences.