Did you know?
of the highest sugar contents of any vegetable. Up to ten per cent of beetroot is sugar, but it is released slowly into the body rather than the sudden rush that results from eating chocolate.
its medicinal properties were more important than its eating qualities and it was used to treat ailments including fevers, constipation, wounds and various skin problems. At that time, the roots were long and thin like a carrot. The rounded root shape that we are familiar with today was not developed until the 16th century.
in all shapes and sizes but the most common is round and deep red in colour. Other varieties are yellow, white, and even candy-striped with red and white concentric circles.
Beetroot and aubergines
GROW IT - EAT IT
Growing
Growth of the barely visible dark leaves may be slow and disappointing at first but don’t despair. The leaves are not too sought after by slugs and ought to survive but fleece can be used to bring the harvest forward by a week or two. Remember that fleece also makes weeds grow faster too! Beetroot will definitely appreciate a thorough watering if the conditions become dry. This will encourage them to grow quickly and the roots will be more tender and tasty.
Harvesting
Beetroot is back in fashion – and rightly so. There’s a lot more to this healthy British vegetable than people think and in recent years it’s become very popular with gardeners.
Beetroot often is seen as a bit of a plodding vegetable, often in the background, always there and much the same.
Yet the first beetroot of the autumn is always utterly gorgeous bringing fresh flavours to a salad meal.
So how do you grow the tastiest beetroot? The answer lies in the soil, the seed and in timing.
Sowing
First sowings are most successful indoors. Sow three or four beetroot seeds into 4cm modules of a tray of 40 then thin them a little when still small. Sow in March in a cold greenhouse or outdoors straight into the ground in early April depending on the weather. Outdoors the seedlings will appear in about 15 days, depending on the weather. Each seed planted will result in a cluster of three or four seedlings. Remove the weakest seedlings, leaving only the strongest for each seed sown. When the seedlings reach 5cm (2in) high, thin them to their final distance apart. Beetroot’s ideal soil is medium to light, although a heavy but well-dug soil will also be ideal. What it definitely does not like is a soil which has recently been manured – this will cause the roots to be misshapen.
20 Country Gardener
Beetroots in modular clumps always grow at different speeds so individual larger roots can be twisted out leaving more room for remaining bulbs to grow. In this way a small, well weeded and well composted patch can be harvested over a two month period. Remember you can also eat the beetroot leaves in a similar way to spinach beet as long as they have not grown tough with age.
Problems
The first tiny leaves of outdoor sowings can sometimes appeal to birds or woodlice and this is one of the reasons many gardeners like to get the plants established indoors.
Aubergines
You need to remember one word if you are thinking about growing aubergines – heat. It’s the key factor so almost without exception the best results will come from growing them under cover. Without sufficient warmth, growth is slow and fruiting inconsequential. Aubergine fruits come in many shapes, sizes and colours. White or violet ones such as Rosa Bianca are no more difficult to grow than the traditional dark purple ones. Growth of all the varieties is dramatically slower at temperatures below 20 degrees C (68 degrees F).
Although tomatoes and aubergines are closely related, both are in the same family (the Solanaceae, which includes the potato, sweet pepper, petunia and deadly nightshade). If you do try to grow them out of doors you will
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