Golden beetroot

[JanG]

I like golden beetroot as they're milder than the standard red and they don't turn everything around them into a red/purple echo of themselves. I like the leaves too.
I grow Burpees Golden every year but they always turn out smaller and generally less vigorous that the standard red (usually Boltardy).
Does anyone know a better variety? I read somewhere that Burpees Golden has deteriorated somewhat over the years. Or any tips for getting bigger better beet roots?

[JanG]

[Flighty]

A plot neighbour grows Boldor F! and generally does well with them.  Both Chiltern Seeds and MoreVeg list this variety. 

[Beersmith]

A plot holder near to me grows a variety called "golden eye".  I have no knowledge about how it performs however. You could perhaps look on line for reviews and suppliers.

[saddad]

We grow Boldor and Golden Ball which is just an anglicised version of the same name. Often get up to "double fist sized, have roasted wedges with other roots.

[JanG]

Thanks for all the suggestions for varieties to try. I'll look into availability of all of them but Boldor seems to be popular.

Double-fisted sounds enviably impressive, Saddad. Any tips? Is that from an early summer direct sowing?

[Vetivert]

Touchstone Gold is said to be the best of the yellows. I think Realseeds stocks it.

[JanG]

Thanks for that too, Vetivert. I'll look into it. I'd much prefer open pollinated

[saddad]

Early May JanG, without going out to check the tag. As you  say direct sowing.. and rigorous thinning of one row to get "large" beet and less on the others to get small baby beets followed by normal sized ones.

[JanG]

Thanks, Saddad. I think I've been skimping on the thinning.

There seems to be a movement towards multi-sowing in some quarters (Charles Dowding, for example), the idea being that the beetrrots will find the space they need and that some variation in size is desirable, much as you're achieving, Saddad.

That might have been partly why I've not thinned - that and just not getting to it. I'll aim to give thinning more attention this summer.

[galina]

I am sure you are aware, there is also the white Albina Vereduna variety.  This has done well for me when I have grown it.  Never grown a yellow, so interested in those variety reports. 

[saddad]

The white is lovely too!

[Digeroo]

I like the thought of thinning some out and not others so a variety of sizes.  Thanks for that Saddad.

[JanG]

I wasn't aware of the white beetroot so thanks for that. Definitely one to try.

[Vinlander]

I too love the golden beets but the yield has always been poor - I will try Boldor, but in the meantime my strategy for non-bleeding beets is to grow golden only for special dishes and the Chioggia type for everything else.

Chioggia has rings of white and dark pink inside (aka. bullseye) - it looks good on the plate. The average colour is pale pink, and I'd say it bleeds even less than you'd expect from that. The yield is as good as any of the reds and the flavour is similar.

I particularly like it in stews because it adds that sweet earthy taste without making the pan look like a bucket of blood.  It's also pale enough to look good and add extra flavour in coleslaw.

I did grow a yellow beet once (Suttons?) - it grew well, didn't bleed and tasted quite good (though it looked like a mangelwurzel aping its betters). There was a hint of the gold beet taste - but not enough for me to buy another packet.

The yield from the pure white varieties can be even bigger but with less flavour.

Cheers.

[saddad]

Just took up the last of my beets... the whites had less frost damage than the yellow, which was the opposite of what I expected and the largest were more damaged, because the small still had foliage that took the brunt I think. I don't like the look of cooked choggia, a uniform grey/pink is not attractive, but it is excellent raw and grated into salads.

[pumkinlover]

I sometimes find an earthy taste to some "normal" beetroot, especially in soup. This does not seem to happen with the lighter coloured beetrot.
However Mr PKL prefers the purple.

[Vinlander]

Just took up the last of my beets... the whites had less frost damage than the yellow, which was the opposite of what I expected

I've been watching more nature programmes since lockdown (probably because few days have encouraged me into green spaces lately). The fact that many organisms use sugar as antifreeze has stuck in my head.

White beets are more closely related to sugarbeet - just a thought...

Also, I recently started hacking the frosted stuff off my Physalis bush (it's now a lot easier to get into the polytunnel).

I noticed that the only fruits unfrosted were the ripe ones, even where both kinds were well inside the bush.

There may be other factors involved in ripening, but 20g of sugar per litre will reduce the freezing point 1 degree C - that's about a teaspoon in a cup of tea - more than I like, but the berries were probably sweeter (I'm much happier with sweet fruit than sweet tea).

Cheers.

PS. On the other hand some apples can produce so much sugar that they go 'glassy' inside. IIRC the famous one is "King of Tomkins County", but I've had the occasional Ashmead's Kernel do it - it's horribly sweet - they say the mango is the sweetest fruit, but glassy apples are way beyond my tolerance, though the horrible mushy texture may be part of it.

[Paulh]

At school we used to sing a hymn with the line "The love that never cloys". I didn't really understand what that meant until I tasted a mango. I try them occasionally still but just not for me.

[calendula]

Golden Detroit is the one for me, always grow it, fast maturing as well