#storing beets

Keep fresh vegetables long into winter this year without canning, freezing, or dehydrating.

The harvest is coming in and many of these vegetables can be kept fresh all winter. Though astrological fall doesn’t happen for another few days, metrological autumn is upon us here in the Ozarks and the harvest is coming in. Though we can get vegetables throughout the year, during the autumn, prices are the lowest that they are ever throughout the year. Autumn will get you better prices on…

I just harvested the last of my ‘Sweet Merlin’ beets planted last October. In my rich, loose soil, I plant them using a grid, about 70 beets in a two foot by four foot area. Pulling the smaller ones as the season proceeds lets others size up.

Typically, we enjoy the smaller beets in various recipes, including Swedish pickled beets. After sharing some of the harvest with friends this spring, I still have about 25 beets to store for use in the coming months. I have room in my produce drawer—or I make room—as I like to enjoy the beets as I wait for the summer crops. They keep well.

I turned to my online garden mentor at Harvest to Table for his advice on storing beets. Steve Albert advises twisting off the beet greens for optimal storage. I have never done that. The first group of stored beets were cut so I have an experiment and can observe any differences.

He also recommended storing the beets in a perforated bag so I pressed a leftover apple bag into service. Check his blogpost for when to harvest beets, how to harvest beets and how to store beets.

You either love them or hate them; find out how to grow, select and store beets, as well as a variety of ways to prepare them. Truly embrace beets!     Beets, or beetroot, is the taproot part of the beet plant. They can vary in size from that of a golf ball to the size of a baseball. Beneath a thin skin, they are a glorious ruby-red, white, golden, or a cat in the hat type (with red and white…