Lovely leafy beets

There’s not a huge amount of stuff you can be getting into the ground at this time of year, which is why it’s such a pleasure to contemplate one’s leafy beets!

They thrive in most soils, although the more nice rich compost/manure you can give them, the more lush those leafy leaves will be; they handle either sun or partial shade and the really really lovely thing about them is that successional sowing from now until the end of August will give you a crop that can be picked through the winter and spring.

Leafy beets include Spinach Beet, Seakale Beet and Swiss Chard, and my especial favourite, Rhubarb Beet, aka Rhubarb Chard – so named for its red mid-ribs and stems and burgundy purple leaves.

Growing leafy beets

Sow about an inch deep in drills protecting your sowing from birds and cats with mesh or cotton on sticks. Thin to about eight inches between plants and do not transplant, beets and chards are not fond of root disturbance – you can use the thinnings as a salad crop, and they are really good with oak-leaf lettuce and rocket, I find.

Harvest the leaves when they are large enough, starting with the outers and without lifting the beet from the ground – try not to cut the leave but break them off as near the rootstock as possible, taking a few from each plant rather than denuding one plant entirely. You’ll get several pickings from each plant.

Cook the mid ribs like asparagus and serve with melted butter – very good with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese. You can tear the leaves and use like any other green leaf crop by boiling or steaming briefly. The greatest thing about the Rhubarb Beet or Chard is that if a couple of plants bolt off and flower it doesn’t matter at all – simply pick the flowering shoots before the buds open and cook like sprouting broccoli – gorgeous!

Labels: allotment-crops, rhubarb-chard, summer-sowing, swiss_chard