Growing Beets For Beginners in Zone 6

Beats they are not very popular and they are kind of ugly but I love them and I just want to share my weird obsession with you beets are root crops and can be a bit tricky to grow especially if you have heavy clay soil but honestly I don't think they're as tricky as carrots hi I'm Amy from Fox Run and today I'm sharing with you all my secrets about growing grape beets and my favorite varieties secret one and hopefully this is not a secret the tops are leaves of the beat can be eaten and taste fabulous in Spring salads Bulls blood is a variety that is grown for its Leaf production in fact the roots of this variety are a bit fibrous and not as tasty do you have livestock because I can tell you that my goats and rabbits Loved These beets these are chioga beads sometimes called candy stripes they are an old Italian variety and take only 55 days to mature they have a sweet mild flavor and the beets I was raised on also if you don't like having beets bleed all over your counters during prep time then chiogas are for you yellow beets have a great beet flavor they do bleed yellow but somehow that seems less messy golden Detroit is a standout variety however for the past couple of years I have grown Bolder which produces a very nice cooking beet Detroit dark red is a standby variety for the classic red beet they are a bit messy but worth it red Ace and Ruby Queen are both excellent varieties to grow beet seeds are not too small and they are bumpy so pretty easy to handle so here's the interesting thing that bumpy shell contains two to five embryos the part that becomes a Seedling so you will have to thin your beet seedlings when they are about three inches tall thinning is a bit of a pain I just want you to focus on the fact that the seedlings taste delicious and are great in a salad beats are cool weather plants and can be planted about a month before the last expected Frost so I like to push the seasons a bit for Zone 6B I plant beets outside their cover around March 15th in late August I start planting them again under shade cloth I have an extensive article on the website about my planting schedule for Zone 6B where I spent 20 plus years farming I'll link it below so beets are great for succession planting no matter what zone you're in for a spring and fall crop plant a short row every three weeks to keep your family in Roots and leaves I just make a shallow trench about a half inch deep and put the seeds in did I mention beets like cool weather and shade beets will do fine with Morning Sun and afternoon shade if you have that spot you can probably get them to grow all summer this is me an example of why you need to thin if you don't thin then you'll get more leaves and smaller Roots which isn't a crime just how they are when you thin just take a pair of scissors and snip them off one it's faster and two it doesn't disturb the other babies beets are root crabs and as you would expect they need light fluffy soil so till if you need to add lots of well-aged compost and some green sand a pH between 6.5 and 6.8 is ideal add lime if your soil is more acidic I hope you are getting lots of good information so far please Boop that like button to help me grow on YouTube also I appreciate everyone who votes on the questions in the community tab it helps a lot I love raised beds for root crops especially ones I plant in spring with raised beds you can really tailor the soil so they don't have any obstructions my raised beds are 10 inches deep and filled with compost potting soil peat and sometimes sand the square foot garden method works well for beets as long as the soil is deep and fluffy nine beats per square put them in a covered raised bed and you can adjust the top for garden Fabric and early spring to shade cloth in late summer if the days are above 85 Degrees then I often Place Hoops in shade cloth over the bed this will also protect the seeds from birds you can plant beets and containers and grow bags for a seven gallon grow bag or pot Place nine seeds remember you still need the thin beets need moisture so especially as the weather warms make sure their bed is moist not overly wet root crops don't like lots of nitrogen so I typically go easy on the fish Emulsion for them one time about halfway through their growth beets in particular are sensitive to a deficiency in boron if your soil is low in boron sprinkle lightly some borax don't overdo it buckwheat is a great cover crop that really breaks up the soil it's warm it's a warm weather crop that needs two months to grow I plant buckwheat in early June in a section of the garden where I plan to grow a fall root crop after the buckwheat flowers but before it produces seed heads you will dig it under tilling or digging by hand both work well to incorporate it into the soil wait 10 to 14 days and let the buckwheat start to decompose you are now ready to sow your fall root crops so I want to talk about sugar beets and mangoes for a minute sugar beets are grown commercially for sugar and in today's world are GMO crops related to sugar beets are mangoes mangoes have been around for hundreds of years as livestock food they both have a large white root and have more fiber than Garden beads which makes them tougher if you are raising livestock and you want to cut down on feed costs then mangoes are a great food source you can also plant a bed down near the woods for your local Wildlife my fawns in Rehabilitation love them that said groundhogs will sometimes get into the Beet bed so fencing is a good idea beets are great for chickens as well as ducks beets can be fed raw or cooked if you feed them raw cut them in half and they will enjoy pecking away at them beets generally take 45 take 55 to 65 days to mature if your soil is light you can just grab the roots down near the base and gently pull I'm not sure why this guy is digging them out but that's an option too meat Health drinks are all the rage add some cooked beets ginger garlic and lemon to a blender blend till smooth and add some ice and you have a fabulous summer health drink bake a beat and then cut it into slices to use for sandwiches you can also grate cooked beets for a hamburger substitute beets are also great for French fries they pair well with goat cheese Mandarin oranges and fennel beet leaves can be eaten any way you use salad greens they are related to chard and the greens can also be sauteed or steamed I love beets if you grow them this season let me know how it goes thanks for watching and have a fabulous day thank you

Channel: Fox Run Environmental Education Center

Views: 3,758

Keywords: how to grow beets, beginner gardening, beginner vegetable gardening tips, beet varieties, mangels, beets as livestock food, ways to prepare beets, growing beets, beets for chickens

Id: l_EX1wxCmA8

Length: 9min 0sec (540 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 10 2023