Beetroot
This candy salad vegetable has a excessive meals worth. It wants deep soil and is greatest suited to a spot the place a earlier non-root crop has been grown. Don’t add contemporary manure, as that is inclined to trigger root forking. If as a substitute of rising greens within the kitchen backyard, they’re grown within the old style cottager’s means interspersed with flowering crops, the beetroot is a most fitted plant for the reason that spherical or turnip-shaped beet has typically advantageous ornamental crimson leaves. Along with the spherical beet, two different kinds are obtainable: a long-rooted and an intermediate sort, known as tankard or canister-shaped. Good named sorts are: ‘Crimson Globe’, ‘Veitch’s Intermediate’, ‘Cheltenham Inexperienced Prime’ and ‘Nutting’s Pink Globe’. All are types of Beta vulgaris.
The place to plant Beetroot
The soil have to be open, well-worked, however not lately manured. Ammonium sulfate ought to be given on the charge of 28g (1 oz) per sq m (sq yd), potassium sulfate on the similar charge, and 110g (4oz) of calcium superphosphate additionally to every sq m (sq yd).
Sow the globe-rooted beet in April; the others might comply with in Could. Make drills 30cm (12in) aside and house seeds 13cm (5in) aside. Some extent to notice is that every so-called ‘seed’ is, in reality, a ‘seed ball’ containing a number of seeds, and a couple of might germinate. It’s essential to single the seedlings to at least one at every level when they’re 2.5cm (1 in) excessive.
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One other essential level to recollect with this crop is the acute care required when harvesting roots. Under no circumstances ought to root or high development be broken, or the end result will possible be a most unpalatable, anemic-looking factor as a substitute of the wealthy wine-red and appetizing vegetable it ought to be. The roots ought to be solely shaken freed from soil as they’re dug in August or September after which saved in a shed, giving some cowl within the type of dry soil, peat, or leaves. Prime development could also be fastidiously twisted off to keep away from harm. Please don’t depart the roots to get onerous and woody earlier than digging them. After the beets have been cooked, they might be minimize with out damaging their look, but when they’re minimize earlier than cooking, their look will definitely be spoiled.
