Beetroot Bolivar
Beetroot love our cool climate and you can get a lot from a very small area of soil so they're perfect for grow beds. Bolivar is our favourite variety. It's fast growing, and ultra low maintenance.
Harvest a few early leaves for salads and start eating the roots once they reach golf ball size.
Time from seed to plate: 8 weeks
Sowing Calendar
Sow
Sow beetroot anytime from April till July. Try and soak the seeds overnight in water before you sow. It's not essential, but if you do you'll remove natural germination inhibitor from the seeds and speed up sprouting.
Fill a grow bed with compost and level it off with your hands or a trowel. Now make a shallow groove with a finger about 1cm deep adjacent to one side of the bed (see diagram on the right), using a piece of wood as a guide if you want nice straight rows. Drop seeds into the groove, about one every 2cm and cover with a thin layer of compost. Water well and label.
Grow
Thin your seedlings to leave one every 5-10cm.
Harvest
Add a few early tender leaves to salads for colour. Don't go mad though or you'll damage the plant.
Start harvesting roots when they reach golf ball size. Pick out the bigger ones, creating extra growing space for the ones you leave behind.