Growing Beets – A Unique Heirloom Crop

Anyone who enjoys vegetable gardening, growing heirloom vegetables in your home, backyard organic garden provides a great way to grow fresh crops for your everyday needs. Beets being a very easy crop to grow, and don’t require much space.

Heirloom vegetable varieties are ones that have been passed down through generations. In these past generations, they didn’t have chemical pesticides and fertilizers, so gardeners needed to plant crops that where hardy to their area, and could withstand that areas growing conditions, like droughts, poor soil, and pests. Heirloom varieties of beets are one of the most enjoyable crops to grow.

Many home gardeners wonder if beets can be grown in their organic gardens. Beets can easily be grown in the home garden and this tasty vegetable when grown in the home garden has no comparison to the taste of varieties bought in the local supermarket. Beets are grown for both their greens and their root.

When planning on growing beets in the home garden, soil conditions should not be overlooked. Beets do best in a deep, well draining soil. A clay soil is to heavy for this root crop to grow well in. Clay soils have many benefits, so amending a clay soil with plenty of organic matter will help soften the soil and improve the soils structure. Another problem with growing beets in a compact soil is that the root of beets will become tough, a good healthy organic soil structure is best.

Beets like cool temperatures. Spring when the temperatures of the soil is at least 40 degrees Fahrenheit or late summer for a fall harvesting here in the Northeast is the best time to start your crop. This crop does poorly when hot weather arrives.

When planting beets, sow seeds one to two inches apart in a row, and then lightly cover the seed with a loose organic soil before sprinkling them with water. You should start to see plant growth in about 14 days. If you want a continuous crop, make several plantings about two weeks apart.

Beets will grow in a partial shade environment. Just don’t choose a location under a tree line where this root crop will compete with the trees root system. Beets need to reach a depth of 3 – 6 inches, so a large trees root system can be a problem.

Harvesting beets can start seven to eight weeks from the day of planting, depending on the desired size you prefer. When young, beets are tender and taster, both the root and the greens.

A environment friendly and healthy way of gardening. Organic Gardening is away of gardening in harmony with nature. Growing a healthy and productive crop in a way that is healthier for both you and the environment.

The Author:

John Yazo