White Beets --- Have you ever grown them?

[jal_ut]

There was some White Beets at the market yesterday.

Have you ever grown White Beets?
Have you ever grown red beets?
Have you ever grown sugar beets?

I did a search for white beets, then tried beets, I only came up with one post. I then wondered if beets is really a very popular garden plant? I grow some red beets every year and quite enjoy them. I may have to try the whites if I can find the seed.

What do you grow?

[applestar]

I'm growing sugar beets for fun this year. Just a tiny 4' row of 4 plants. they are about cue ball size now which is really better than any beets I've grown. I seem to have trouble with beets and chard. They always start off beautifully then their leaves get completely eaten by some bug or other... like they are stressed and vulnerable -- I'm seriously considering really liming one bed to see if that is the issue since I've noticed that every member here who say Swiss chard are easy seem to have alkaline soil.

I know my sugar beets should be getting even bigger than that, but blister beetles have found them and are turning the leaves into lace. Some of my Swiss chard are nothing more than colorful stems at this point.

I like roasted golden beets for their milder flavor, but have not seen white beets. I like those "pickled" red beets they usualy have on salad buffets but have yet to find a recipe. My MIL makes Polish beet soup made with pork and lots of heavy cream. Deilcious!

[DoubleDogFarm]

Never seen a white beet James. Interesting. I've seen golden and ringed, like a bullseye.

I'm growing Red Ace this year. Here are a few small beets and carrots.
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Double%20Dog%20Farm%20%20%20Garden%20Vegetables/GardenJuly12th2012022.jpg[/img]

Mother Earth News. Growing beets
https://www.motherearthnews.com/multimedia/image-gallery.aspx?id=2147498784&seq=1

Eric

[rainbowgardener]

"I did a search for white beets, then tried beets, I only came up with one post."

Unfortunately, we can no longer search back into the archives. The search function is only searching what has been posted since the Forum came back from "vacation." So you are better off Google searching.

I had never heard of white beets before, but I did look. This article:

https://www.specialtyproduce.com/produce/Baby_White_Beets_5566.php

says the white beets are sweeter, but less "beet" flavored.

[greenstubbs]

I grow the Detriot Reds every year for the past 11, love em!!! I never heard of a white one though.

[gumbo2176]

I grow the Detriot Reds every year for the past 11, love em!!! I never heard of a white one though.

Love those red beets but they have a very distinct way of letting you know you ate them the next day.

[gardenvt]

Johnny's Selected Seed carries a white variety called Blankoma. It would be interesting to try them and not have to deal with the "bleeding"of red beets.

This year, I grew Detroit Red & Early Wonder Tall Top. I will be planting some Kestral (baby beet) and Boro in couple of weeks for fall harvest.

[jal_ut]

They used to grow sugar beets here commercially. Those can get huge, like a football.

Thanks for your replies. I have one white beet my son gave me, so will eat it and report.

I like those "pickled" red beets they usualy have on salad buffets but have yet to find a recipe.

We have an excellent pickled beet recipe. I will hunt it down and get it on here.

Oh, I just looked, it is in this book [url=https://donce.lofthouse.com/jamaica/1CookBook.pdf]Page 106[/url]

This is my families cookbook. Enjoy!

[Smallgardener]

I have never grown white beets but I do have some beets that have white and red rings in them alternating.

[applestar]

James, thank you for sharing your family cookbook
I've loved reading cookbooks cover-to-cover since I was a teenager -- no, really -- and so far skimming through, this one promises to be a fun read with interesting recipes as well as glimpses of your families' personalities.

The picked beet recipe looks easy and I'm going to try it first chance I get. For the first "cooking" step, do you recommend baking/roasting like potatoes?

[greenstubbs]

I grow the Detriot Reds every year for the past 11, love em!!! I never heard of a white one though.

Love those red beets but they have a very distinct way of letting you know you ate them the next day.

It does shock you at first doesn't it?

[gardenvt]

Great recipes, jal! I put a book together for my children about 15 years ago and included family recipes handed down. It is such a gift to have.

[Dillbert]

historically I've not had a lot of luck with beets but my present garden does beets good . . .

we're fond of refridgerated pickled beets:
(as in not canned for long term room temp storage . . . )

first, you need some beets. fresh beets mefinds are superior in sweetness and texture to "store bought" - but heh, you use what you can get your hands on . . .

summertimes I shop local aka back yard - these were direct seeded 03/17/2012 (central PA)
[img]https://i490.photobucket.com/albums/rr267/DilbertD/Beets/DSC_1500s.jpg[/img]

trimmed up, ready to cook. skin is still on - just lopped off tops/root end
these are relatively small ones - I thin the beet patch by eating - they get bigger as the season goes on.
[img]https://i490.photobucket.com/albums/rr267/DilbertD/Beets/DSC_1515s.jpg[/img]

simmering/cooking liquid for a small/medium batch
1 cup vinegar - my pref is cider vinegar - red wine pixed here
1/2 sugar
fat pinch of kosher salt
in the pot
[img]https://i490.photobucket.com/albums/rr267/DilbertD/Beets/DSC_1517s.jpg[/img]

add water to cover
[img]https://i490.photobucket.com/albums/rr267/DilbertD/Beets/DSC_1519s.jpg[/img]

gently simmer until fork tender - big fork, little beet....bad pix
add water as needed to keep just covered. timing varies - big beets nearly an hour, smaller beets 20-30 minutes.
[img]https://i490.photobucket.com/albums/rr267/DilbertD/Beets/DSC_1522s.jpg[/img]

slice up an onion - medium to large, full to half - depends on batch size
[img]https://i490.photobucket.com/albums/rr267/DilbertD/Beets/DSC_1520s.jpg[/img]

add onion to hot-just-off-the-simmer beets/liquid.
note: I dislike putting the sliced onions in while cooking - they get all limp&wimp.
adding to the hot-off-the-stove liquid seems to cook them just a bit but leaves them crisp to the crunch in the final served dish.
allow liquid to cool, refrigerate overnight.
[img]https://i490.photobucket.com/albums/rr267/DilbertD/Beets/DSC_1526s.jpg[/img]

peel - which is easier than a ripe peach -
I use a strictly digital method - fingers and a thumb nail, nothing else needed
and slice. the really little ones get et whole . . .
[img]https://i490.photobucket.com/albums/rr267/DilbertD/Beets/DSC_1578s.jpg[/img]

note the onion color at initial adding vs. after overnight
these keep 2-3 weeks in the fridge.
we prefer to store them covered, in glass.
[img]https://i490.photobucket.com/albums/rr267/DilbertD/Beets/DSC_1584s.jpg[/img]

[applestar]

Nice! I'll try this recipe, too. thanks!

[Rogue11]

Last year I tried planting beets for the first time. I bought a pack "tricolor' beets. It had red beet, orange and white beet seeds in them. In the end we decided the red ones had the best/ strongest flavour followed by the orange ones. I think I will stay away from the white ones this year.

[jal_ut]

The picked beet recipe looks easy and I'm going to try it first chance I get. For the first "cooking" step, do you recommend baking/roasting like potatoes?

We cook them in a large pot with water, then take the skins off and slice to the desired size.

........................................................................................

OK on the white beets. Thanks everyone.

Yes, our family cookbook was a project, then a year after the first publication, we added a bit and fixed a few boo boos. I then saved it as a PDF and published it on the web. A lot of people have looked at it. You can print each page if you like then punch the pages and put it in a 3 ring binder for a hard copy. It prints on regular 8.5x11 paper.