Sweet Beets
(Page 2 of 5)
The practice of eating fully grown beet greens as a cooked
vegetable is not nearly as widespread as it was a couple of
generations ago, but it still has devotees. Mary Ballon of
West Coast Seeds in British Columbia is a true lover of
old-fashioned cooked beet greens. "I'd grow a crop of beets
just to harvest their greens," she says. "We sometimes pull
plants as thinnings when the leaves are about 5 inches
tall, and steam the little root and the leaves all at
once." Ballon also says steamed beet greens surpass their
close relative, Swiss chard, in flavor. For beet varieties
with excellent greens for cooking, she recommends 'Early
Wonder Tall Top' and 'Lutz Greenleaf,' also called
'Winterkeeper.' (For a list of sources for the varieties
mentioned in this story, see "Beet Seed Sources," Page 94.)
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A NEW LOOK FOR AN OLD CROP
Since growers for farmer's markets and natural food stores
began selling pre-made salads in the last 10 to 15 years,
the search has been on for crops that grow quickly and
produce large quantities of succulent, tasty leaves that
don't wilt too fast. Young beet leaves turned out to be
perfect. They are juicy and tender with a piquant flavor
and have great eye-appeal: Their green leaves contrast
nicely with their red stems and leaf veins. Best when
harvested at no more than 3 1/2 inches long and 2 inches
wide, they stand up well to repeated cuts over a long
period of time.
Lots of market farmers rely on 'Red Ace' as their main beet
variety for salad mixes, as many of the traits that make it
popular with commercial growers — bright green leaves
with brilliant red stems on upright, vigorous-growing
plants — also make it a good choice for home
gardeners. Another good choice for home gardeners is
'Pronto,' which sprouts erect tops with good color and
makes a beautiful baby-style beet root for a true
dual-purpose crop.
If you think you don't like the taste of red beets, you
might want to try 'Golden' beets. They make an attractive
addition to the table and their flavor can be quite mild
and sweet. But, their seed often germinates poorly and
seedlings grow slowly, so if you grow 'Golden' beets, you
should plant them more thickly and give them a little more
attention throughout the season. If you want to add some
color to your salad mixes, be sure to try the `Bull's
Blood' beet, a British heirloom grown almost exclusively
for its intensely maroon-red leaves. While most beet
varieties exhibit some red pigmentation in their foliage,
'Bull's Blood' stands out for its unique, solid, blood-red
leaf color. Market farmer Eliot Coleman, author of Four
Season Harvest, has pioneered the use of cold-hardy crops
to produce vegetables in cold frames and walk-in tunnel
greenhouses throughout the winter at his Four Season Farm
in Harborside, Maine. He has found 'Bull's Blood' to be one
of the most cold-hardy of his crops.
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