This magnificent beetroot is ‘chioggia’. It looks even better grated. If you fancy some beetroot you can sow them now using my ‘seven tips for growing root vegetables‘. Beetroot ‘seeds’ are a cluster of seeds in a corky husk so if you sow what appears to be one, you may get three or four seedlings. You can fit 16 in a square 30cm by 30cm (4×4) so you don’t need much room for them. Pull them when they’re golf-ball sized or wait until they’re bigger. You can get flat, cylindrical or round ones. Striped, orange or red. If you’re growing them yourself, you get to choose.
I’ve made some broad bean and feta dip this week with a basket full of broad beans. The salad is growing well so I made some rocket pesto too. It works well in bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches I find. I used the roasted beetroot to make a salad with rocket leaves, feta cheese and almonds.
You can sow virtually anything at the moment, provided you keep it watered. Keep thinning out side shoots on tomatoes and start training cucumbers and pumpkins up vertically if you need more space. Mulch your potatoes with seaweed and your strawberries with pine needles. Sow some more salad and pick lettuces a few outside leaves at a time. Sow more beans in pots or in the ground. Use dwarf beans if your garden is too windy for climbing beans.
wow – that’s so interesting about the beetroot seeds – i didn’t realise that!