Failed: Beetroot

By hook or by crook I will succeed in growing beetroots this coming year. The last two years I have epically failed. The juicy purple wonders always bolt just as they are starting to swell. This has driven me absolutely nuts as I have been using Bolthardy variety. Pft.

This vegetable is supposedly the most trouble free to grow and, as yet, they will not play the game with me. Assessing where I suspect I have gone wrong, my eagerness may be the cause. Usual causes of bolting are dry soil in hot summers - this cause can safely be put aside - and planting the seed too early. 2010 I sowed the beetroot later than in 2009 to try and avoid this but the date was still early April.

For 2011, I have bought a couple of types of beetroot and I plan to sow a few seeds of each variety every 4 weeks and carefully monitor the results. 2010 ended with a grand total of 2 small beetroots and the agony of this was that they tasted like heaven. Nevertheless, we made great use of the plants, picking the beet leaves even though they didn't swell at the root - we harvested all the way until October. These were absolutely delicious in salads and what's more, looked stunning.