Would it be possible to plant some seeds under the foliage of squash or other plants that you will pull before the beet matures? I have more shade [trees & houses] in my yard than I like, so that probably helps my summer-sown beets to do well. I scatter beet plants through my flower beds - even in hot summer weather -- and they seem to do pretty well [beet bulb not as big as in cooler time...maybe I'm just pulling sooner, as the little ones are so tasty] the beet plant is an attractive addition to flower beds.

Soil temps is what determines seed planting time - both fall and spring. So you have to learn to measure your soil temps. The optimal soil temp for planting both beets and lettuce in the spring is 45 degrees. Obviously in the fall that isn't possible so you want to wait until the soil temps are at least down into the 70s (rather than in the 90s as they are now) and hope that they will continue to fall. In my gardens, after monitoring my soil temps for several years, I know that I can plant my fall cool crops like lettuce and beets about Sept. 15th-20th. In your zone (depending on your type of soil) it will likely be 12-15 days earlier than that but without measuring it there is no real way to know. Lots of info available on the web on how and why to measure soil temps and the optimal planting temps for all crops. Dave

Marcia, the reason I freeze them is so that I can add them to my potatoes when I roast them. We love them that way. The only way I know to can them is to make pickled beets and I already have lots of those. How do you can yours? Greg, I had never thought of drying them. Beet chips, yum! Oilpainter, thanks for the link about storing beets. Thanks everybody. Marg

First, the pre-cooking is needed in order to peel them effectively and to eliminate any of the peel contaminants from being transferred to the beet itself as would happen with manual peeling. Second, if peeled first then all the color washes out of them. That is why leaving a 1" portion of the stem attached is recommended - to prevent wash out. Third, it makes them softer, more tender, more palatable rather than rock hard. But the primary reason is to insure they are heated all the way through before pickling them. It not only kills internal bacteria but begins the weakening of the cell walls so that the pickling brine can penetrate. The pre-cooking time needed varies by the size and variety. In some cases it may only take 10-15 mins. until they are fork tender. For extremely large ones that are woody it may take an hour or more. So sorting by size really helps and frequent check for fork tender will determine the cooking time needed. Dave