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Beet thinnings

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‘Burpees Golden’ and “Cylindra’
(Seed from Victory Seed, which I recommend.)

Those with the red stems are ‘Cylindra.’ The seed packet tells me ‘Cylindra’ will produce 6-8″ long roots ideal for slicing.  ‘Burpee’s Golden’ will produce sweet dark golden/deep yellow beets. (How you can claim a beet is “sweet” is beyond me.) 

Immature beet tops are great in salads. Indeed, most micro-green seed mixes contain a gracious number of beet seeds. Beet thinnings– like micro-greens– can also be used to garnish soups and sandwiches, cracker spreads… think of micro-greens/thinnings as edible decoration! Tastey, nutritious decoration.


Mature beet tops can be sauteed or cooked as greens (like collards, mustard, and so forth). Don’t forget: Swiss Chard = Beet Tops. They are the same plant, one has been bred to produce tasty roots, the other, tasty leaves!  One cautionary note, some varieties’ tops are stronger than others.

I have one 20′ row of beets, now thinned to about 3″ apart. [(12 x 20)/3] That’s a lot of beets. I don’t care for beets but Mr. Big Food does.

8 Responses

  1. It never occurred to me to use those things! I think that they could make the most beautiful garnish ever. Brilliant!

  3. Thanks! I think what’s particularly appealing are the colors. Plain old green would still be pretty, but the red & yellow really pop. Watch out, though. The red stains.

    Kat showed me some tricks for photographing food. Those flour sack towels come in handy!

  4. We have a side yard called the “dog yard”. I bought some raised garden bed frames on Craigslist so that I could use the area for a garden. We have a real problem with gophers – so planned on putting down wire first – hence the framed raised beds. Also, our soil is pretty bad – mostly clay. I thought it would be easier to just buy decent garden soil and put it into the frames than digging and double digging the ground.

    All is in the past. Granddaughter has come to live with us for an indefinite period, bringing her very sweet Lab with her. We left her home while we went to work (after a day for adjustment), and although we deliberately took her home early (about a four hour day), dog still peed and pooped in the house. She’s now going out into the dog yard for the day. So the dog yard is once again a dog yard – not a garden.

    Ah well. Beets are not all that expensive. Made Harvard Beets the other night. Granddaughter didn’t have the “courage” to try them. We convinced her to put a drop of the sauce on her finger – she found it too strong.

    She tells me she eats everything…especially vegetables. We’re working on finding out what she’ll _really_ eat. It looks like the “what she’ll eat” list will be considerably shorter than the “what she _won’t_ eat” list.
    There was a time when she was considering becoming a vegetarian. Good thing she didn’t – I think she’d starve to death!

    I think her “thing” is to be “anti”. She’s trying hard to grow up, but getting past the “anti” stage to actually _thinking_ looks like it’s going to be a big obstacle.

  5. Too bad about the garden. Does the dog have a box/crate she can stay in during the day? I was skeptical but it worked wonders in training Missy & Rocky.

    I’ve been seeing a bunch of things on the WWW recently about food & kids and catering to kids’ likes and so forth. I’m sure you’ve seen them, too. I don’t fault kids for liking some things more than others– we all do. But I do fault them and their parents for not insisting that they try things, even things they’ve tried before if they are prepared differently.

    Good luck with Anti! It must be something of a transition for everyone.

  6. To start with, she’s 21. I’ll leave some space here for you to contemplate the impact of that…!

    I took Judo many long years ago. The basic principle is to use your opponent’s actions against him. Give with his action, then continue till you have him off balance, then throw him.

    I hope to apply the same principle with her – at least within limits. Exceed the limits and it’s “make your choice” time.

    As for food, she’s free to fix and eat anything she wants – if she wants something special from the store, give me a list. If I cook the meal – she can eat it or do without..entirely her choice.

    And no…we don’t have a crate. Apparently GD used one where she lived before, but didn’t bring it with her (understandably). I’d just as soon she (the dog) stays out in the yard anyway – as long as she doesn’t try to dig out. So far so good on that score. She doesn’t seem interested in the gopher activity I’ve already seen out there…if she won’t dig for gophers, she probably won’t dig just to get out. I hope. She hasn’t been spayed yet. GD thinks it might be a good idea to let her have puppies so she can “have that experience”.

    Deliver me!!

    I figure we have about 3 months before she comes into season again, based on what I’ve been told. I intend to keep a close eye on her in any case. _just_ in case!

  7. The impact is clear. It is not possible for me to have a 21 year old granddaughter. But I do sympathize.

    Let me get this straight. She’s 21 and she’d not clear on what veggies she likes?

    If I were the prayin’ sort, I’d be prayin’ for you.

  8. I suspect she’s clear on what she likes, but is one of those who prefers to say “I like it” when in fact she doesn’t, and will simply mess them around on the plate like a nine year old and _pretend_ that she ate some.

    That’s along with the limited diet preference thing.

    Her mother is a very dominant personality. My guess is that she doesn’t feel “safe” saying she doesn’t like something. She’ll learn that I don’t really care what she likes or dislikes. I like to serve people what they enjoy – but I have no intention of _not_ having what _we_ like! It does irritate me to serve her what she says she likes only to have her not eat it.

    She doesn’t like beets, and apparently beet greens don’t pass the test either. Cooked mature ones – not the baby type you photographed. I haven’t seen her eat any salad. Maybe I’ll pick up one of those packages of baby greens and see if that works. It feels sort of like working with a non-communicative animal…! Observation is essential!

    I also suspect we’re going to need any prayers offered…!!

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