Hi armymomma, Welcome to Garden Web and The Seed Exchange. Please see addressing newbie and newer member issues for setting up your Member Page email link, so you can easily be reached for trading. If you don't happen to fine anyone here with excess sugar beet seeds, I see they are available and in stock at the link below, reasonably priced. Sue Here is a link that might be useful: Sugar Beets at Reimer Seeds

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Jessica, I've also made a chocolate beet cake, although mine didn't have the spiced creme anglaise that this one has, which sounds like a really nice addition. Other than that, our recipes are identical. Oh, the cake is very good, really it is, but I'm not sure it's all that healthy, LOL. Chocolate Beet Cake From Straight From the Farm 1 cup butter, softened, divided 1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar 3 eggs at room temperature 2-3 oz. dark chocolate 5 medium beets (2 cups pureed) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg confectioners sugar for dusting Make the beet puree by trimming the beets and simmering them until tender. Drain the liquid and cool the beets (you can run water over them to cool them off.) Slide the skins off, then place them in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Let the puree cool slightly before using it in the cake. Cream 3/4 cup of the butter with the dark brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer, then add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Melt the remaining butter together with the chocolate, either in the microwave or in a double boiler over simmering water. Cool slightly, then add the chocolate mixture, beet puree, and vanilla into the butter/sugar mixture (it may look separated at this point.) In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix well. Pour the batter into a greased and floured 10-inch springform pan; bake at 375 degrees F for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean (I started checking around 50 minutes.) Cool the cake in the pan 15 minutes before unmolding and removing to a cooling rack; cool completely before dusting with confectioners sugar. Spiced Creme Anglaise 1/2 cup whole milk 1/2 cup heavy cream 1/4 cup sugar 4 large egg yolks 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger Set a bowl over ice water and have a strainer nearby youll want this ready so you can stop the sauce from cooking when its ready. Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar and set aside. Combine milk, cream, and spices in a sauce pan and cook over medium heat just until the mixture starts to simmer. Whisk some of it slowly into the egg yolk mixture, then slowly add the rest of it while whisking. Pour the whole thing back into the sauce pan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof rubber spatula or wooden spoon, until its thick enough to coat the spatula or spoon this usually takes about a minute or two longer. Dont boil it or the egg will harden. Strain into the bowl set over ice water to stop the mixture from cooking further. Chill in the refrigerator until youre ready to use it. Oh, and I used leftover beets that I had cooked for supper and didn't eat all of, I didn't cook beets especially for this recipe! Annie

Lots of crops are now "Round-up Ready". That means they have a gene spliced in that protects them from the gylcophosphate herbicide. Problem is the gene "jumps". That is it will travel with pollen to the field next door. If next door saves any seed from his crop Monsanto owns it because they own anything with that gene. Sort of like me buying bucket of paint and painting your house... making it mine because I own the paint. A pathetically stupid Judge has approved this crime. Oops... did I infect your crop... suppose I own your stuff now. Funny thing is Round-up is supposed to break down in three days allowing the planting of regular seeds. Soooo... if it breaks down into "harmless" chemicals so quickly why do we need Round-up Ready? One of those mouth saying one thing while the feet do another. Other problem is the gene jumps into weeds. DNA is DNA and it can attach itself to genes in another species. So now the weeds are becoming Round-up Ready. Traditional farming makes food more expensive but it is more dependable. The food also has more nutrients. I worked in the fields as a child chopping out weeds with a hoe. Without herbicide help the job is near hopeless. More then once I broke down and cried because the weeds were so thick it took an hour to go a hundred feet down the row. One of my childhood memories is the tears falling on the back of my hands as I chopped away at those nasty weeds. I've seen both sides of the herbicide issue with my own eyes. : ) lyra