You ’ve carefully choose , planted , water , fertilized and babied your beets until they ’ve reached the tip where they ’re quick to harvest . While some will be cooked and eat at once , you ’ll probably want to salt away the balance for late consumption . Growing conditions , climate , variety and personal preference all affect entrepot .
Growing for Best Storage
Give your beets the best potential start in the storage game by providing idealgrowingconditions . Beets like a fertile soil at least 10 inches deep that ’s rich in nutrients , especially phosphorus . Go easy on nitrogen , however . The idealistic pH scale is between 6.0 and 6.8 . Keep the land evenly moist .
Best Varieties for Storage
Although almost any beet can be put in in dissimilar ways , certain varieties are honorable for different form of reposition . Choose the following for :
Best Varieties for Greens
Although you could use greens from any Beta vulgaris miscellanea , some have a better feeling or are more crank . For greens , it ’s best to harvest young – about six to eight inches long . Older super C are more likely to be tough . These are good selection :
Choosing Beets for Storage
For salt away the good mode , whenharvestingchoose beets that are fluent and unblemished , particularly if you plan to store or march them whole . Two inch in diam is a good size for most uses . The Beta vulgaris should have good for you , cryptic green leave . nullify common beet with large , hairy tap roots – they may be tough .
Beets in the Refrigerator
For unretentive term entrepot of a few beet , your refrigerator is a great option . Trim leave to within an in of the root . Do n’t clip the tooth root end ; the beets may molder . Wash off grease but leave to dry out before memory board . Place in perforated plastic bags in the crisper draftsman .
Root Cellar
Like most source crops , beets store well in a rootage cellar . The temperature should be 32 ° F to 40 ° F ( -1 ° C to 4 ° coulomb ) and humidity around 95 percent . Brush off soil , but do n’t lap . prune off leaves but not roots . you may apply sand , sawdust or peat moss for insularity . Pack so beets are n’t touching .
Beet Greens in the Refrigerator
When it comes to beet leaves , storing in the icebox is the best fashion for short - term repositing . Cut the leaf from the roots , launder the leaves and place in a penetrate moldable bag in the crisper drawer . Do n’t cut them up , as they ’ll ball up quicker .
Freezing Beet Greens
Like spinach and chard , beet greens can be frozen . Choose young , unmarred leaves with small stems . Wash thoroughly . Blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes , cool apace in ice water and drain . Package while still slenderly wet and freeze . wad tightly and printing press air travel out of the package .
Freezing Beets
Beta vulgaris can be frozen . They must be falsify first until fork ship’s boat , then quickly chilled in ice pee . Peel and hack after cooking . pocket-size Beta vulgaris can be frozen whole , while larger beets should be slice or julienned . immobilise on an individual basis on tray first , then computer software for long term storage . ensure all air is press out of the software program .
Canning Beets
As with freezing , modest beets can be give the sack whole , in slices or julienned , as well as dice . notice a tested formula and come after instruction to the letter . Beets must be pressure canned – a body of water bathroom is not safe . Canning is one of the best foresightful - term storage options for beets . Store jars in a nerveless , ironical position .
Pickling Beets
Most pickled beet formula use vinegar as the preservative . In addition the recipe may include spiciness or addition like onions or herbs such as dill . As with canning , follow a prove recipe . Pickled Beta vulgaris can be refrigerated for a few weeks but must be give notice for retentive - term storage .
Fermented Beets
zymolysis is a very old method of food preservation that trust on beneficial lactobacillus bacterium . Diced or julienned Beta vulgaris are good for these recipes . Once turn , store the beets in a root wine cellar or refrigerate . ferment beets have a sweeter , less harsh flavor than pickled beets , as most recipes do n’t employ vinegar .
Dehydrated Beet Roots
Dehydrated Beet Greens
trend leaves away from shank . Wash and gently pat ironical or spin in a salad spinner to get rid of piss . lie the leaves in a single bed on dehydrator tray and desiccate four four to six 60 minutes at 125ºF ( 52ºC ) . Crumble into powder and fund in glass jars or store whole dried leave in plastic bag .
Garden Storage in Cool Climates
Beets are a cool season veggie and can be stored in the ground all wintertime . prefer overwintering varieties . If you hold up in arena where the flat coat freezes upstanding or there is heavy snow , use about eight inch to a human foot of mulch . This helps prevent heave or crack and take them easy to get out of the ground .
Garden Storage in Warm Climates
While you may store beet in the garden , it ’s a little catchy in warm climates . Plant in former fall so they wo n’t get too big . Odds are they wo n’t last all winter , so design to harvest and use up as soon as they reach two inches in diameter . Provide wet and some shade to help cool the soil .
How Long Will Stored Beets Keep?
memory board times vary according to how and where you store .
Manage Your Storage
It ’s important to pay attention to your salt away beetroot . Check beets in a root cellar at least once a week for signs of waste ; remove beets that show rot . Keep an eye on canned common beet for polarity of leaking seals or crack jars . retard sour beets for mold at least once a week . Dehydrated beetroot may also mold if not kept thoroughly dry .
