how to grow beets, with brian campbell

TO THIN, OR NOT TO THIN, MY BEETS? Can I harvest some greens along the way when growing them? And which variety is best, anyway? “Beets should not be intimidating,” says Brian Campbell of Uprising Seeds, where beets are a specialty. And yet, they are daunting to some gardeners, who start them indoors (don’t!); forget to re-sow for a steady supply; or don’t know how easy they are to store for many months.

“We would be sad if people shied away from such an iconic garden vegetable,” says Brian, who with Crystine Goldberg farms organic seed, including for beets, in Bellingham, Washington–seed they sell in their online and print Uprising catalog. “What is more beautiful than a bunch of voluptuous bright red beetroots in a harvest basket en route from the garden to the kitchen?”

All too often, our only experience with beets means the usual suspects—ubiquitous varieties like ‘Detroit Dark Red’ or ‘Early Wonder,’ or produce sold without their greens and even pre-packaged or canned. Brian confesses he doesn’t have much experience with those, and for a good reason: There are better beets to be had, and grown.

my beet-growing q&a with brian campbell

Q. When can I sow beets—what’s their timeline?

A. Beets are pretty hardy and can go in pretty early. Our last frost date [in northwest Washington] is May 15th, and they can go in the ground a good month before that.

Beets are biennials, meaning that they make the beet the first year, overwinter, and then bolt to flower and produce seed the second year. The winter is what triggers flowering, though, so if you plant your beets very early in the spring, a percentage might think they have gone though a winter and bolt before growing a full-size beetroot.

We always direct sow, and though some

how-to vegetables edible plants from seed Washington state Washington