Beet Donation Tracker

Quick Links: How & Where to Grow | Temperature | How to Care For | Harvest Signs | Harvesting | Pests | Companions | Varieties | Preservation | Recipes | Michigan Tips | Fun Facts
 

🌱 How & Where to Grow Beets:

• Plant seed clusters ½ inch deep when soil reaches 40°F.
• Direct sow – beets don’t transplant well due to taproot.
• Space seeds 2 inches apart in rows 12-18 inches apart.
• Thin seedlings to 3-4 inches apart when 2 inches tall – each “seed” produces multiple plants!
• Sunlight: Full sun (6-8 hours) preferred, tolerates partial shade.
• Soil Type: Well-drained, loose soil with pH 6.0-7.0.
• Soil Amendment: Work in compost – avoid fresh manure which causes hairy roots.

Don’t waste those thinnings – baby beet greens are delicious in salads!
  

🌡️ Temperature Guidance:

Spring: 40°F soil minimum. Fall: Plant July-August. Cool weather crop.

• Germination: Seeds sprout at 40°F but faster at 50-60°F.
• Optimal growth: 60-65°F for sweetest roots.
• Heat tolerance: Growth slows above 75°F, roots become woody.
• Frost hardy: Mature plants survive to 25°F.
• Fall beets are often sweeter than spring crops!

Michigan’s cool springs and falls are perfect for beets – skip mid-summer planting!
  

💧 How to Care for:

• Consistent Moisture: Essential for tender, non-woody roots.
• Watering: 1 inch weekly – irregular watering causes tough roots.
• Mulch: 2-3 inches to maintain moisture and keep soil cool.
• Fertilizer: Light feeding – too much nitrogen produces leaves over roots.
• Boron: Beets need boron – black spots inside indicate deficiency.

📏 Harvest Signs:

1-3 inches diameter for best quality. Greens edible anytime.

• Baby beets: Harvest at 1 inch for tender, sweet roots.
• Standard size: 2-3 inches diameter is ideal.
• Don’t wait: Larger than 3 inches become woody and less sweet.
• Shoulders visible: Top of beet pushes above soil when ready.
• Greens bonus: Harvest outer leaves anytime without harming root.

Fall beets can stay in ground longer – cold weather increases sweetness!
  

🧺 Harvesting:

Harvest when soil moist. Twist off greens. Handle gently.

• Loosen soil first with fork beside rows if ground is hard.
• Pull straight up – beets usually come out easily when ready.
• Remove greens immediately, leaving 1 inch of stem.
• Don’t wash until ready to use – soil protects during storage.
• Save greens – they’re as nutritious as the roots!

🪲 Michigan Pests:

Wireworms (worst pest), flea beetles, leafminers, cercospora.

• Wireworms: Orange larvae bore into roots – rotate away from grass.
• Flea beetles: Tiny holes in leaves – use row covers on seedlings.
• Leafminers: White trails in leaves – remove affected leaves.
• Cercospora leaf spot: Purple-bordered spots – improve air circulation.
• Deer: Love beet greens – may need fencing.

🫱🏽‍🫲🏼 Companions:

Excellent with lettuce as living mulch. Good with onions, garlic.

• Lettuce: Perfect companion – grows in beets’ shade.
• Onions and garlic: Repel many pests.
• Bush beans: Fix nitrogen for leafy beet tops.
• Brassicas: Share similar growing conditions.
• Avoid: Pole beans and field mustard.

🌈 Varieties:

Red: ‘Detroit Dark Red’. Golden: ‘Touchstone Gold’. Striped: ‘Chioggia’.

• ‘Detroit Dark Red’: 58 days, classic deep red, reliable.
• ‘Bull’s Blood’: 60 days, deep red leaves for salads.
• ‘Touchstone Gold’: 55 days, golden, won’t stain, sweet.
• ‘Chioggia’: 55 days, candy-striped interior, mild.
• ‘Cylindra’: 60 days, cylindrical shape, easy slicing.

🫙 Preservation:

Fresh (2-3 weeks), root cellar (4-6 months), can pickled, freeze cooked.

• Fresh storage: Remove greens, store in perforated bags 2-3 weeks.
• Root cellar: Layer in damp sand at 32-40°F, 90% humidity.
• Pickling: Classic pickled beets – follow tested recipes.
• Freezing: Cook whole, slip skins, cube and freeze.
• Canning: Only pickled or pressure canned – never water bath plain beets.

🧑🏽‍🍳 Recipes:

Pickled beets, borscht, roasted with goat cheese, beet hummus.

• Harvard beets – sweet and sour classic.
• Roasted beet and goat cheese salad with walnuts.
• Traditional borscht – Ukrainian beet soup.
• Beet hummus – stunning pink color!
• Golden beet carpaccio – thinly sliced raw.

✋🏼 Michigan Tips:

• Fall plantings have better color and flavor.
• Mulch heavily for moisture retention in sandy soils.
• Succession plant every 2 weeks for continuous harvest.
• Michigan’s heavy clay needs amending for straight roots.
• Plant in raised beds for better drainage.
• Late July planting perfect for fall storage crop.

🧠 Fun Facts:

• Beets contain unique betalains not found in other vegetables!
• Can turn urine pink or red – totally harmless!
• Sugar beets provide 20% of world’s sugar production.
• Ancient Romans used beets as an aphrodisiac.
• Beet juice is used as natural food coloring.
• One of the few vegetables that’s sweet when raw.
• Beets can boost athletic performance – nitrates improve oxygen flow.
• The phrase “red as a beet” comes from their use as rouge in Victorian times!