Apart from boiling them then eating them or pickling them, does anybody have any smart ideas for storing beetroot?
Our crop this year has been not far short of exceptional, mainly thanks to Jan earthing up the beetroot as they grew in oprder to keep those pesky slugs off.
Well I am picking them at golf ball size this year, so they can be cooked and then frozen, we tried this last year and it was successful, although the beets were a bit on the large size and not particularly sweet, so smaller this time round, hoping for success.
as well as cooking and freezing they can be stored in slightly moistened vermiculite or sand in a shed for example but keep checking them regularly
Very lucky this year with Yellow Beetroot....it tastes superb, very sweet....and it doesn't make your pee go Red... ;D I'm going to try to store them in an old fashioned sand "clamp"...I'll let you know how it works.
I was going to say clamp them... not on an industrial scale but with sand or spent compost, moist rather than damp in buckets and tubs works really well remember thwe roots should not be touching just in case one goes manky...
8)
please expand on "clamp".
i've got loads that are ready and need some storing. i even gave the M-I-L some the other day. think she was quite impressed ;D
mine went in buckets last year - each layer covered with sand and none touching.
Ate the last ones in March.
I also managed to sow some in August in modules last year, planted them after the spuds and harvested at first frost. These made golf ball size and I imagine they would of stored well into the summer had I not swapped/given away/ate them all
Mrs KP a clamp is a tried and tested method for storing root vegetables aver the Winter. It's been used by gardeners for hundreds of years. My departed GG GrandDad used to clamp all his roots to carry the family through the whole Winter. You simply store your roots in ever decreasing circles on top of each other with a protective layer of sand in between each layer. No roots must touch each other. Then the whole lot is covered in a layer of straw as insulation then finally a layer of earth over the whole pyramid. There are other methods but this one has been in my family for at least 5 generations. Good luck...Dinger
philandjan, it is far to early to be thinking about storing beetroot yet, depending on the weather they will be ok outside until late October, even beetroot will stand frost as long as it is not to severe
Dingerbell, would you use a black bin and what sort of sand? for a clamp.
Ditto Rosyred ! thanks dingerbell.
;D
One of my lottie neighbours, just buried her beetroot in the soil on her plot last year and just dug them up in the Spring and they were fine. She said she got the tip from an gardening hint which appeared in the Guardian. Worth a try! busy_lizzie
Richard,
We are a bit concerned that they are going to get too big and "woody". We are already looking at 6-8" diameter - not exactly dainty salad beetroot!
Indeed, the two that we have just pickled filled a jar each.
We'll try putting some photos up tomorrow now that we have movedi nto the daunting world of digital photography.
Clamping, while doubtlessly proven (5 generations of Dingerbell = back to the Iron Age!), it seems too much "faffing around" for simple souls like us.
Busy_lizzie; did your neighbour just put them all in a hole together or did they have to make sure that no root touched each other?
Philandjan, you could put them into a black plastic bucket with sand and store in the garage..I'm sure that would suffice.
Last night I served Cajun Chicken on a bed of hot sliced Yellow Beets with a spicey Pineapple, Tomato, Coriander and Lime Salsa....the Beets tasted amazing... :-*