Hi , I planted plain red beets in my garden and they are getting really big and I have a lot of them .I have never grown beets before so Im clueless on them except that they taste good. It is getting colder now ,The temp went down to below 40 last night. I am wondering if any one can tell me if I should pull them all up now? or can I leave them in for a while? or should I have already have pulled them all up? Sue

-- sue (sumr545@aol.com), October 08, 2002

Answers

Hi Sue! We usually plant beets, but this year we omitted them from our veggie list since I canned so many last year!! You can pull yours anytime now. Sometimes the larger ones will become a little "woody" and tough. After we pull ours, hubby and I pick a nice sunny fall day and sit at the picnic table to peel them. Kinda like sitting around snapping beans or shelling peas :-)!! After cutting them up, I pressure can them. I have pickled them in the past, but now that I'm getting lazier in my old age, I just add any seasonings or flavorings after heating for a meal!! I know other folks have different techniques, but this has worked for us. Beets can be kept in cold storage...as you probably know...but we don't have very good conditions here for that. Good Luck!!!

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), October 09, 2002.

Thank You for the info, I plucked up 3 of them for dinner tonight. They were really good. I'dont have enough to can them but I will have enough for a lot of dinners. Today I just ate them plain. Tomorrow I'll pick some more and try them with onions. I have some onions in the garden too. I forgot how much they stain your hands red.

-- Sue (sumr545@aol.com), October 09, 2002.

Sue...the stained hands is why I let my hubby do most of the peeling :-)!!! BTW, I don't know where you live, but in some areas you can cover your beets (or other root crops) with a foot or more of straw and just dig the throughout the winter as you need them!

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), October 09, 2002.

MMMMMM.... That sounds tempting. I didn't plant beets because I thought the turnips would be enough root crops to last us until the first killing frost, but I COULD bury them in lawn clippings and eat them until Christmas..... I must think on this further.

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), October 10, 2002.

Do you think that Leaves would work?, we have had mild winters lately. I live the suburbs near Detroit. Yea = the city - Uck.

-- Sue (sumr545@aol.com), October 11, 2002.

Sue...I would think that leaves would work, as long as they don't blow away throughout the winter!! You might want to "anchor" them somehow. Is Detroit known as the "windy city" or am I thinking about somewhere else??

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), October 11, 2002.

Chicago is the Windy city. Detroit is Hocky Town !!!

-- WING Nut (THEWINGSRULEhehh!@aol.com), October 13, 2002.

YES IT IS ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !,, thansk G.H.

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), October 14, 2002.