Red beet - set of 5 pieces

The red beet (or beet) belongs to the Beta vulgaris, which also includes sugar beet and fodder beet, and is descended from the beach beet from the Mediterranean region. It was mainly the Romans who were behind the development of this vegetable. From the many recipes in cookbooks from the 19th century you can deduce that the vegetable was very popular in that period. Both the beet and the leaves can be used in cooking. Young leaves are delicious in salads and give your salad a nice color. Beets are cooked and eaten both hot and cold. Red beet is rich in antioxidants. The dye betanin is also used by the food industry to color certain dishes.

CULTIVATION TIPS:
You plant the red beet plantlets 10-15 cm in the row and rows at ± 20 cm. Approximately 30 to 40 plantlets the m². When planting, pay special attention not to damage any roots, especially the taproot, to avoid growth retardation. They feel most at home in airy soil. In terms of fertilization, it is best to use a compound fertilizer (NPK) with a higher K value. This will benefit the growth and later the taste. Be sure to add some patent potassium during the growth; this also promotes the thickening of the beet. Give enough water on warm summer days.

CULINARY:
Beet can be steamed, stewed, boiled or eaten raw and the leaves and stems can be made into soup. Wash thoroughly and cut finely to cook with some finely grated beets. Add salt, pepper and lemon and serve with a little cream. If you cook the beets in their skins, they retain their color better. Not only does it make peeling them a lot easier but you don't get your hands as dirty. You can also boil them and cut them into slices to use in salads.

MEDICINAL:
Beets are a good source of potassium and folic acid. They also contain quite a few carbohydrates. The colorant anthocyanin, drawn from beet juice, works against night blindness and cardiovascular disease. Folic acid acts on metabolism, heart muscle and red blood cells. It is sometimes claimed that drinking three glasses of beet juice a day increases performance. If it were illegal doping, the athlete would be immediately detected because of a striking red tongue and red discoloration of the urine...

HARVEST AND STORAGE:
Harvest the red beets in a timely manner. Smaller ones not only taste much better, they also have a firmer structure. Twisting off the foliage results in better preservation versus cutting the foliage off.

PROBLEMS AND DISEASES:
Avoid planting out red beet in overly dry soils, as you could quickly have problems with scab (warty, rough spots). If you plant too many plants per m², leaf spot disease may occur (see planting distances above where it is better to use the widest rather than the narrowest distance).

VARIA:
Note: The juice of the beet can stain hands and clothing rather hard to remove! You can remove stains by first rinsing as much as possible with water and then treating the stain with pure alcohol. Diluted ammonia or 3% hydrogen peroxide also gives good results.