decisions, decisions...

[aquilegia]

Should I...?

No I really mustn't, I probably don't have room...

But I really like them and there are always ways of finding room...

But I really have enough to deal with already...

Yes but it's so much fun a few more wouldn't hurt...

and they are yummy.

So should I get some aubergine and beetroot seeds or just stick with all the veg I already have?

Are they easy to grow? (Do you have to boil beetroot for hours before eating?)

[aquilegia]

[cleo]

Beetroot are easy to grow,and do not need that long to cook,and the flavour is nothing like the ones you buy-a `must` have.

Aubergines?-for me also a must have but they do prefer to be under cover,but having said that I did well outdoors two years ago,not so good last year.

Stephan.

[gavin]

What?  Only one kind of beetroot?  Try a normal red, and the choggia (pink and white striped, boiled sweet style!).

Thumbs up for the beetroot. Aubergines - I've not tried; too far north and too exposed in Leeds to be worth trying outside.

Go on - go for it!  You know you want to!  :)

All best - Gavin

[aquilegia]

All done and dusted now. My orders are in, so there's no going back.

I thought mini aubergines would make a pleasant alternative (I find normal sized ones from the shop are sometimes too big for the two of us - as if I'd be able to grow them that big anyway! ::)

Also got some red Beetroot (sorry Gavin) - maybe next year I'll try another one.

And for good measure a pack of about five or six different types of basil. You can never have too much basil!

[tim]

All those came in whilst I was typing this. However;

1. Beet. You could do them in foil in the oven when you are cooking some other long, slow thing. I haven't done it, but see no reason why you shouldn't slice the thing to cook more quickly? If you go for golden ones, the tastiest &  non-bleedy, remember to sow 2-3 times more than normal - or pre-germinate. And what about micro-waving? Or pressure-cooking?

2. Aubs. We grew them happily, 650' up, just sheltered with 'Dutch Lights. OK - a sort of large cold frame! Agree with small ones - or long Asian ones - much less pappy. = Tim

[The gardener]

Watch the Aubergines for whitefly Tim, particularly if you are growing them under cover.

Beetroot........Sow as thinly as you can.

The seeds look quite large when you take them out of the packet.

Word of warning.... each seed is actualy a cluster of seeds, hence the need to sow them thinly.

When they are about 6"-8" high thin them out if you want largish beetroot.

Transplant the largest of the 'thinnings' in to any gaps.

[cleo]

Nice web site Gavin,I`ll take a longer look when I have time.

In the days when I was a `lottie` I had six of them around Headingley.

Stephan.

[aquilegia]

Thanks for the foil idea Tim - I'll try that as I don't have a microwave or pressure cooker. (that is, assuming they grow!)

TG - I got one of the varieties with single seeds on purpose to avoid that problem. I always sow too thickly, I just can't help it!

Did I remember that right from GW - that you can eat the beetroot leaves too. Are they a salad leaf or do they need cooking?

[Derekthefox]

 Red Beetroot - rolled in salt and roast in the oven - absolutely delicious - boiled are also great.
Chioggia - found them very attractive, but a little insipid on taste.

[allotment_chick]

Hey Aqui - soak the beetroot seed overnight before sowing - they come up superfast!  I grow mine in modules and tuck them in at the lottie wherever there is a bit of space.

I managed to get SIX Aubergines off the plants grown outside last year - there was one defining moment when I tasted the first mouthful of roasted vegetables where I had grown ALL the ingredients myself.  It was brill.  Bl**dy aubergine seeds don't want to germinate this year tho!
AC x

[john_miller]

  When I came over here I was introduced to a vegetable I had never heard of- beet greens. This is the young plant harvested and cooked as a side dish.  They are harvested at any size, from 'baby greens', just a few inches tall, up until small beets are forming. The ideal is somewhere in between, in my opinion. Not a staple by any means now, and declining in popularity apparently, in contrast to fiddleheads, they were both grown as an early green after the extended winters here I assume. Certainly worth trying and an alternative to just putting the thinnings on the compost heap. There are varieties available over here bred for 'greens' but any OP type would be suitable- using single F₁ seeds, such as Monodet, will get very expensive!

[tim]

Big G - Aubs, yes - but for some reason, I only ever get greenfly.
Beet - yes - but if I don't pre-germinate, my failure rate with golden is v great.
That takes us into the world of leaf beet,  spinach beet & perpetual spinach, John?
Aquilegia - cook them! = Tim

[Gardengirl]

Although I haven't got a lottie and only grow a few vegis I find reading all your messages very interesting and informative.  Especially like Gavin's site.  I wonder if anyone has tried the 'bare bottom' test :o ::)  Now that would be a sight for sore eyes down the lottie ;D ;D ;)

[gavin]

Thank you, Patricia - and the stuff on the "bare-bottom test" is for information only!  Not a recommendation - remembering some of the things for which people have got arrested for on Yorkshire allotments :-X :-X  :) :)

All best - Gavin

[john_miller]

  Yes, Tim, it could well take us there if we choose to do so.
 Your comments about greenfly on aubergines reminds me of my first exposure to integrated pest management. My first job after leaving school was working on a monocrop tomato nursery. It was just at this point that whitefly were becoming resistant to almost everything chemical- the first year we were laying down cyanide powder weekly and even that didn't work (for mechanical reasons)! Looking back from this point it seems we were also constantly spraying (the then newly introduced) chemical Rhesmethrin with equal effect (although the smell always made me nauseous).
The next year the nursery was one of the first to use the  parasitic wasp Encarsia formosa. Someone had also suggested to my boss that he try planting some aubergines as magnet plants for the whitefly so that only they needed spraying. My boss got a few aubergines to eat but the whitefly were totally disinterested!

[philcooper]

Back to the original question.

They are both (as are all veg) a matter of taste - could I dare to suggest that you purchase (apologies to Yorkshiremen and Scots oln the list!  ;)) one at the supermarket to try.

I think aubergines are insipid and are not easy to grow, requiring a long hot summer to do well and for me act as a magnet for whitefly.

Beetroot are easy and quick so not too much is lost if you try them.
The taste is very different from other veg (like/hate descision usually happens at first tasting) and pickled beetroot (IMHO) a delicacy to be savoured (like pickled red cabbage and pickled onions)

[aquilegia]

Thanks for all the tips everyone!

Phil - I love both Aubs and beetroot - aubs are pretty much a staple in our household and beetroot are a lovely salady summer treat. yum. (I remember eating beetroot off grandad's allotment as a kid - gorgeous!)

[Mrs Ava]

Aqui, yup, you can pick and eat those baby beetroot leaves to have in your salad. Yum.  Beetroots are right up there with my most fave veggies, and I like them most when they are small and tender, just a bit bigger than a golf ball, don't take ages to cook, and are sweet and yumlish.  An Italian friend used to have them boiled and roasted like spuds with his sunday lunch, only thing was, it turned the gravy an odd shade or mauve!  ::)

[aquilegia]

ooh - purple gravy - nice idea! Oh I just cannot wait now! (it's lunchtime too, so I'm hungry and drooling at the idea of roast veg!)

[Beer_Belly]

I'll be trying aubergines for the first time this year (in my greenhouse)

-B_B-