Beetroot – Surprise, not as bad as I thought it was!

What a thing to have as my first proper blog post, I always thought I HATED beetroot, but it is so easy to grow!! When we bought the house and moved in at the start of winter, there were just a few things left over in the veggie patch and beetroot was one of them. It seemed a shame to waste it so I found that it wasn’t too bad roasted up with a mixture of other vegetables like carrots and parsnips. Still not a huge fan though.

 Then, despite my rule of not growing anything I don’t like, some more beetroot found its way in to the patch thanks to seedling gifts from a fellow veggie grower, aaaargh! So I thought, right, I actually have to find a use for beetroot that I like. I did a bit of googling and then adapted a recipe that a friend suggested and lo and behold, it was amazing, light fresh and tasty! Beetroot will now be a constant in the garden just for this one recipe! J And what’s more, it involves raw beetroot!! Who’d a thunk it, it got rave reviews and plate licking from husband too even though he is of a similar mind-set to me on the beetroot front. Recipe at the bottom of the blog.



So, apart from this one recipe, part of the wonders of beetroot is that it is ridiculously easy to grow and it can be grown pretty much all year round apart with just a couple of months off in the lead up to winter. If you are brave and have the space you can grow it from seeds. You can plant the seeds according to packet instructions and then thin the seedlings out as recommended.

What is easier if you don’t have much patience or space is buying the seedlings from the garden centre and planting straight in to the garden, then all you have to do it keep them well-watered in dry weather so that they don’t become woody. Easy peasy, even the most black fingered of gardeners can cope with beetroot I reckon, seeing as how I have pretty much just left mine to their own devices once planted. Do make sure they are well separated out though, I didn’t realise that each little seedling pot had 2 or 3 beetroot seedlings in and had to replant some mid-growth, I initially though this had killed them but after going all limp and pathetic the leaves sprung back to life after a week, see …impossible to kill! J



Fresh from the garden

If you only have a patio or small garden, beetroot can even be grown in containers, just make sure you have a pot big enough for them to grow (30cm min I would say). Beetroot leaves can be put in salads too for a lovely bit of colour, so if you are a container gardener then using the leaves of seedlings before thinning could be a great space saver, salad greens and root veggies all in one pot. Of course those lucky enough to have a veggie patch can do this too.

Beetroot is fast growing, so you get the rewards of your minimal effort quickly. Ready for harvest in about a month and a half to two months, but you can start eating them as soon as they reach about golf ball size. Even once full grown they can be left in the ground a while longer until you are ready for them. Given that you can plant them out around 10 months out of the 12 (depending on where you live), planting little and often could be a great way of saving space and having a constant supply if you are a beetroot enthusiast.

So the dreaded beetroot is no longer dreaded. Anyone got any more surprisingly good beetroot recipes?

 

Grated Beetroot Salad
serves 4 as a side dish or 2 as a meal in itself, although I would add some mixed lettuce or rocket (or beetroot leaves!) and good bread for mopping if you wanted to make a meal of it.

1 grated raw beetroot

2 grated raw carrots

100g Feta crumbled

A handful of chopped nuts – walnuts, pecans or almonds work well

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp olive oil

Dribble of lemon juice

Apart from the feta, place all ingredients in to a bowl in order listed and mix well. Add the feta and mix again gently. Serve … as easy as that!

Now I just need to find some good recipes for the detested Silverbeet ...