I usually plant all my garden at the same time. I first concentrate on eating the early, cool season plants: lettuce, spinach, radishes, etc. Then early corn, and some early tomatoes show up, then beans and cucumbers and I forget everything else, for a while. Finally the beets bulge up way above ground, and I start eating them. You beet boilers should try roasting them! I wash them off, dry, and cut stem and root to about an inch. I use a glass baking dish, and cover it with foil. Roast at 400 F. for about 75 to 90 minutes for a 2" beet, less for 1" or 1 1/2" beets. Let cool in the dish. Put on your latex glove, slip the skins off, slice, look up a recipe for "Harvard Beets", cook them up, and enjoy! This year, if the rain ever quits and I can plant my garden, I am going to try some golden and some white beets along with the red ones. Perhaps I will not have to use a latex glove to avoid "getting caught red-handed". They also grow well in my greenhouse over the winter and spring. I have some beets in there (and carrots) that are ready to harvest now.

This is from www.farminfo.com Beets prefer loose, well-drained soils but will tolerate a wide range. Remove stones and debris since this will hinder growth. In high clay soils, add organic matter to improve soil structure and to help avoid crusting after rainfall. Beets also make an excellent raised bed crop since soils are generally less compacted and there is less foot traffic. Beets are also sensitive to soil acidity. A low soil pH results in stunted growth. They prefer a pH of 6.2 to 6.8 and will tolerate 6.0 to 7.5. John Here is a link that might be useful: Johns Journal

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angiepangie: "I have been making dilly beans and pickled beets by just blanching the beans, boiling the beets- and pouring over hot seasoned water and vinegar mixture. I keep them in the fridge and then are eaten within a couple of weeks or months. I've always heard that you are supposed to heat process things or you could get sick. However this is the method my grandmother uses and I've never gotten sick with it....." "...Please don't tell me to invest in a canner and learn how to heat process! I don't have the money to do so, no matter how cheap- I only come across organic beans and beets etc every so often, and only make pickles a few times a year. my basic question here is, can I just pickle up all these beans by blanching, then hot vinegar/water/sugar/spices- and leave them in the fridge indefinately? I don't want to make my family sick." Have you ever tried to lacto ferment your dilly beans? This was actually my first year at fermenting raw unpasteurized unblanched live Fortex beans and we like them nearly as much as we do the half sour/full sour cukes; I served them at a cookout last weekend and they were a huge favorite with most of the folks there. It's soooo easy, and absolutely no heating energy or special equipment is required; they will keep for months in the fridge, and they're not only 'safe' for your family, they are very nutritious for them also. This is the basic recipe I followed: "These pickled green beans make a tasty snack anytime of the day…they have a wonderful garlicky taste and are a great little “finger-food”. I like to grab a few straight from the jar and munch on them….betcha’ can’t eat just one Recipe type: Lacto-fermentation, Appetizer, Condiment Serves: 1 quart Ingredients ¾ to 1 pound fresh green beans 1 large clove garlic, thinly sliced pinch red pepper flakes 1 teaspoon dried dill OR 3 to 4 sprigs fresh dill 1½ Tablespoons unrefined sea salt 2 cups filtered water Instructions Place half of the sliced garlic to a clean quart-sized mason jar, followed by the red pepper flakes and dill. Snap off the stem-end of green beans. Blanch green beans in boiling water for 2 minutes, then immediately transfer to a bowl of ice water until no longer hot. Drain the blanched beans well and pat dry with paper towels. Add green beans to your jar, stem-end down, packing them close together….it helps to lay the jar on its side at first. Fill the jar completely with the green beans, but do not pack them in too tight. Sprinkle remaining garlic slices on top of beans in jar. In a bowl, or large glass measuring cup, mix together the water and salt. Pour this mixture into your jar of beans to cover, being sure to leave 1-inch space from the top of the jar for expansion. (If the brine does not cover, simply make up another batch using the same ratio of salt to water.) Place lid (preferably air-lock lid) on the jar tightly. If using air-lock fill with water according to instructions. Allow to ferment (culture) for 3 days at room temperature, checking after day 2. When they are done, the beans will smell and taste “pickled”, but they should still be slightly crisp. Remove air-lock lid, if using, and replace with storage lid ��" transfer to cold storage." Here is a link that might be useful: Lacto-fermented “Pickled” Green Beans This post was edited by sidhartha0209 on Tue, Sep 10, 13 at 21:33