Beetroot

16 October 2024

Beetroot harvest, a big one too.

We’ve been growing by mulching the soil surface with our own organic compost for five years. We’re seeing evidence of a cumulative improvement in plant health and productivity.

The head gardener grows a pinch of seed in modules and then plants out clumps of little seedlings into the mulched soil. Each little family bunches together and provides shelter and support as the plants grow.

The wet conditions that characterised the first half of the year probably gave momentum to our growing beets. By harvest, let me tell you that some were huge: certainly the biggest we’ve ever grown. Even those bigger than cannonballs weren’t woody as they hadn’t seeded.

Beetroot has tremendous benefits for health - this from the BBC Good Food site:

• Rich in protective antioxidants
• May have anti-cancer properties
• May have anti-inflammatory properties
• May lower blood pressure and heart disease risk
• May improve exercise performance and support energy levels
• May improve digestive health
• May protect the gut
• May support brain health and reaction time
• May be a useful addition to a post-menopause diet
• May relieve symptoms of Raynaud's 

Let me tell you that it is excellent for turbo-charging the gut. We’ll leave that there.

And to multiply up the benefits to the gut microbiome, use grated beetroot, red cabbage and carrot to make a superb, so easy and super-tasty sauerkraut.

Here it is in preparation. Very tasty too.