Growing beetroot – easy and tasty!
Growing beetroot brings pleasure both in the form of delicate pickled beetroot for Swedish hash and as fresh boiled baby beets enjoyed with a little butter and salt. Like most root vegetables, beetroot is easy to grow and rewards the effort.

How to grow beetroot
Beetroot was already being grown 500 years before the start of our era in the Mediterranean countries. In Sweden, however, the habit did not arrive until over a thousand years later – in the 1600s and 1700s.

Growing beetroot is easy – beetroot has few demands on the growing site. You can also grow beetroot far up the country, at least in more favourable locations. Sowing is done when the soil has dried out and can be worked in spring. The soil temperature should also have reached about 8°C. If it is warm outside, germination is helped by letting the seeds lie in a glass of water for a few hours before sowing.

An ideal growing spot for beetroot is open and sunny, but if it is only slightly shady that usually works too. The soil should be loose and porous, preferably rich in humus and compost. Sow the seeds about 2 cm deep and about 3 cm apart. The row spacing when growing beetroot should be about 40 cm. When the beetroot starts to grow in size you need to thin out along the rows so they have plenty of room to develop and grow big. It is usually right to do this when the plants are about 5 cm tall.

Start harvesting the beetroot when they have reached 2–3 cm and then harvest as they grow. For winter storage you should grow a variety suited to storage and harvest late in autumn. The beetroot can be kept in a cool pantry or a root cellar.

Don’t forget to use the tops!
The nutritional value is very high and the tops can also be used when you grow beetroot! If you harvest the leaves young, before they have stood too long, they are delicate to use in salads or as a garnish. Bear in mind, though, that the plants need to keep some leaves to have the energy to go on developing big, fine beetroot, so only take a leaf “here and there”.

The beautiful dark green leaves with red veins are very decorative in salads and will take your dishes to a new level. It also feels good to make use of the whole plant instead of simply throwing away the tops when you grow beetroot.

Good luck growing beetroot!