The Cornucopia Corner
Tips for Growing, Buying and Cooking Fresh, Locally Sourced Food for Your Table
Beautiful Beets! Text and Photo by Steffie Littlefield
B
eetroots, commonly known as beets, are a popular root vegetable used in many cuisines around the world. Beets are packed with essential vitamins, minerals and plant compounds, some of which have medicinal properties. Some beets are grown as a green leafy vegetable. Beets are one of the easiest vegetables you can grow. They’re almost never troubled by pests or disease. They don’t need staking, pruning or fussing. In our clay and rocky soils it is best to grow root vegetables in raised beds. Beets should be planted from seed, directly into the garden. Each beet seed is actually a hard little cluster of 2 to 4 seeds. It takes several days or even a week for the outer seed coat to soften and allow the seeds inside to germinate. My process is to soak the seed over a night or two in water before I sow. It’s important to keep the soil consistently moist during this period. Then once the seeds have germinated, you will need Steffie Littlefield is a St Louis area horticulturist and garden designer. She has degrees from St. Louis Community College at Meramec and Southeast Missouri State and is a member of Gateway Professional Horticultural Association, Missouri Botanical Garden Members Board and past president of the Horticulture Co-op of Metropolitan St. Louis. She is part-owner of Edg-Clif Winery, Potosi, MO. www.Edg-Clif.com.
6
The Gateway Gardener™ OCTOBER 2020
