First of all must say a big Thank you to new followers who have clicked the follower button -even though it's just as I'm starting to write a bit less often. Have to say it's quite strange not writing a post every day although it certainly leaves a bit more time for other things.
Now the main subject......................
Despite my beetroot being far too closely sown and not thining them, I've being pulling a bunch like this every week. I don't want them too big as they take too long to cook.
Thought I'd look in that new little vegetable book to find the history of these roots vegetables that we always called Red Beet to differentiate from 'Beet' grown in so many fields when I was young when Suffolk had two Sugar Beet factories.
From the illustration, dating from the mid C19, seems there were different colours even then - but traditional colour is my choice.
According to the book apparently the place and date of origin of Beetroot is not definite but they possible came from the Nile region around 2,000 BCE. There was a wild beet growing in Mediterranian coastal regions which may have derived from Chard (or vice-versa). Greeks ate the leaves and the Romans cultivated the root which is maybe why in Tudor England it was called 'Romaine beete'.
Beetroot is rich in iron,calcium,carotene,magnesium, phosphorus, vitamim A and B complex. So very Good For You!
Mangolds, Mangle or mangle-wurzels used for cattle feed are a hybrid of beetroot and chard.
Over the last 40 years I've tried many different ways to preserve them for winter but they always seem too vinegary for my taste. Someone once suggested bottling them in a jelly made using vinegar instead of water - that didn't work either. Years ago we kept them for many months in a box of sand but I don't really have anywhere suitable to do that now - or the sand. So now I just eat them through the months they are available fresh.
Back in a while
Sue
My first showings were all leaves no root:(
ReplyDeleteThat's a pain. I'm quite surprised how well mine have done considering how little care they got once passed seedling stage
DeleteI use the leaves in salad. Older leaves I treat like chard.
DeleteI think it originates in Russia and it is a seaside vegetable. Old gardeners use to sprinkle salt on their rows of beetroot they love it.
ReplyDeleteCould be -all I know is that it's been about a while!
DeleteHi, have you tried using red wine vinegar instead of malt? Get mine from Aldi. Veronica
ReplyDelete.
Aldi red wine vinegar is a good price. I shall use it tomorrow to make my Red Relish.
DeleteI like beetroot (call me Bill Baxter as in Diary of Adrian Mole) but we always get beetroot fly when try to grow them, which makes them inedible.
ReplyDeleteTouching wood - Never had beetroot fly damage
DeleteFresh pulled and roasted, they are so good. I often cooked them like that fo9r Dad before he passed away - he loved them so much. xx
ReplyDeleteI love them roasted too but hardly seems worth doing for one person
DeleteI do enjoy beetroot . I find it good with either hot or cold food.
ReplyDeleteI love it - but not pickled!
DeleteWe've got loads of beetroot on the veg plot and like you can't involve vinegar much these days so just have to try to enjoy them freshly cooked sprinkled with the merest drop of red wine or cider vinegar
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
I use just a little vinegar in the storage box after cooking them and give it a shake so they last a week in the fridge
DeleteMy favourite way to eat beetroot is roasted with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Catriona
ReplyDeleteBalsamic vinegar is so good on any salad
DeleteI love beetroot, or used to before I found out it contributes to kidney stones from which I suffer. For me, its baby beets roasted with sage leaves, or a cheese and beetroot sandwich.
ReplyDeleteBeetroot and cheese sandwich was something I used to pack up for Col when we first married - I thought it very odd - but it's really good. Didn't know about the kidney stones - that's a worry
DeleteYour Beetroot look brilliant this year considering the dry weather we have had. Have you tried roasting them on an open tray instead of wrapping them or boiling them. I was watching a Happy Pear YouTube clip the other day and they did just that, and then blitzed the roasted beetroot and red onion to make a pesto. It looked really good.
ReplyDeleteI love them open roasted with other veg but don't often bother just for me
DeleteYour beets look really remarkable. Everything seems to grow well in your garden. I've never tried to pickle beets. It must be a delicate balance to get the vinegar just right and to taste.
ReplyDeleteBrother in law just cooks, slices and covers with vinegar in a jar - ugh!
DeleteYou can freeze cooked beetroot. Poll
ReplyDeleteThey do go a bit squishy though
DeleteHave you thought of making Harvard Beets? Lots of recipes on-line.
ReplyDeleteI shall have to look that up
DeleteEveryone in my family enjoyed beets, except son Tom. I always asked kids to take at least one bite. hoping they were develop a taste for something they didn't care for. Young son Tom would take his prerequisite bite, finish his meal, then would ask to be excused ("Gotta go baffroom!). There he would proceed to spit out the beet he had stuffed into his cheek for the whole meal without swallowing it and would then spit it out into the toilet. I only learned this when he was much older and confessed. He is 59 years old and STILL doesn't eat beets.
ReplyDeleteWhat a good story - poor Tom!
DeleteLovely, esp the illustration. And your real beets too. Too bad they taste like dirt to me.
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame they taste odd to you
DeleteI like my beetroot peeled and used raw in salad or a sandwich. It is great when juiced with some carrots as well.
ReplyDeleteNever eaten it raw - not at all sure about that!
DeleteLovely beets, have you tried them roasted, a different taste and delicious. You've done really well, ours were quite poor, not enough rain.
ReplyDeleteLove them roasted but don't bother just for me
DeleteI like fresh beets very much and don't consider them too much trouble, even for one person.
ReplyDeleteI'm lazy!
DeleteI like the greens too, cooked like spinach.
ReplyDeletececi
I use the leaves when small but they get a bbit too tough for my liking when bigger especially in our dry weather
DeleteHow wonderful those illustrations are! My mum loved beetroot. Can't say I'm a fan of it, but love reading about it.
ReplyDeleteThe little book has some brilliant illustrations - from very old books
DeleteClear that you have global readers in that in the UK beetroot is or are always called beetroot, never beets. Reads funny to me.
ReplyDeleteWe had to call it beetroot or red beet because of Sugar Beet being called 'Beet'. I guess that in the US sugar comes from cane rather than beet
DeleteThey grow sugar beet in the States too.
DeleteHow I love them baked with a bit of butter and salt and pepper nothing fancy.
ReplyDeletemy grandparents used to keep them in their root cellar they would last most of the winter along with the potatoes.
Cathy
One vegetable I’ve never liked since I was a baby..it always tastes like dirt to me!
ReplyDeleteI love freshly roasted beetroot. I might have to grow some next year. Xx
ReplyDeleteBeets also turn your teeth purple red, very staining! Same reason I don't eat blueberries, tho I actually LIKE blueberries in jam or pie. The roasted beets do sound good tho.
ReplyDelete