glib, the animals you mention don't typically carefully gnaw the flesh of the foliage, leaving the veins in tact. However, caterpillars will! Our original poster needs to look carefully for the beet armyworm or other such critters, at night with a flashlight.

Sounds okay to me, too. Some will lose a bit of the red as they get older, though. I've had poor germination and survival with the yellow variety I tried. Not sure if it is a characteristic of the variety or just a one time thing. I plan to harvest the few that made it in the next week.

I don't care for greens that much so I hide them in lasagna or soup. However, I froze all the Swiss chard I could get to make this wonderful vegetable tart. I make it once a month at least as a side dish but is good as an appetizer too. It takes 2 pounds of chard and when ribs removed and chopped up is about 6 cups before slicing into wide ribbons then cooked for 10 min to soften. You can also make it with other vegetables like squash or turnip greens if you Google erbazonne. Lidia's Italy is a show on food channels or sometimes on public broadcasting stations and who has authored several wonderful cookbooks. This particular recipe is simple to make, the dough is basic and foolproof. The combination of chard, cheese, ricotta, garlic and eggs is magical and delicious hot or cold. The recipe URL is missing the ricotta - add 1 cup or more with the eggs. Her dough is here: 2 cups unbleached AP flour, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 cup evoo. Mix it in the food processor adding 1/3 cup or less ice water, knead for a minute or two, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for an hour before rolling out. It is made on a jelly roll pan with the edges free form to wrap over the filling for a couple of inches only. Now that you've reminded me, I think I'll go make some for Thanksgiving! Nancy Here is a link that might be useful: Erbazzone

I couldn't locate such a statement after a rather brief online search. But it does occur with carrots, another root vegetable. So I added the thought in case anyone else knew something solid. Hmm, must have been half awake when I did that search -- used "why beets get bitter" -- but no quote marks. When I returned to the search just now, I saw these. (Perhaps more are available?) When choosing beets to purchase -- "Avoid those that are irregularly shaped as it can be an indication of bolting, which produces a woody and bitter taste." (http://www.goodlifegarden.ucdavis.edu/crops/id/30) "Beet Variety Evaluation" has an extension comparison chart. Comments include statements of "not bitter" or "slight bitterness." (https://www2.ag.purdue.edu/hla/fruitveg/MidWest%20Trial%20Reports/2-1_beet_strang_09.pdf)