Your comments and tips

29 May 09, Carol (Australia - temperate climate)

I am growing beetroot for the first time and I was wondering if the leaves can be eaten?

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02 Jun 09, Barb (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Hi Carol, Yes you can definitely eat beetroot leaves! They're a bit like red silverbeet. I like to steam them like spinach, or cook them like Asian greens.

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05 Jun 09, coastie (Australia - temperate climate)

Carol, you certainly can eat the beet tops. They are a little tougher than silver beet, but taste good.

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16 Jun 09, Helen (Australia - temperate climate)

Great recipe for Beetroot.Dice cooked beetroot and put in an oven proof dish with lid. Add equal amount of Goats Cheese and sprinkle with Thyme and black pepper then stir. Put in oven for about thirty minutes. Delicious. We have it at least twice weekly with our main.It goes well and dinner party guests change their opinion about the humble Beetroot

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19 Jun 09, Trevor Heywood (Australia - temperate climate)

I cook fresh beetroot in a large stock-pot with a few bay leaves and sometimes an unpeeled dutch shallot: If you have an abundance of leaf or don't care for it, leave them on when you cook and don't cut the rat's tail off as it causes bleeding. After half an hour's boiling, remove the tops less 1 inch of stalk and continue cooking. Then, use gloves to slip the skins and tails off when cool - the stalk bump comes off easily too. There is no need to interfere more than this when preparing the root for the table.

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26 Jun 09, Tania (Australia - temperate climate)

Hi. I grew beetroots last year and the bottoms were quite small. Am trying again this year and the leaves look big healthy, but again not much underneath. What am I doing wrong?

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23 Jul 09, Paulie (Australia - temperate climate)

Hi guys. first time veggie patch grower here. great fun so far. does anyone know, can you do beetroot in pots?

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25 Jul 09, Barb (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Paulie - Yes you can grow beetroot in pots, but they need to be BIG pots. Beetroots definitely prefer the garden. Tania - I find the same problem some years - I think it could be too much nitrogen and not enough potassium. You could try fertilizing with a fruit/flower type fertilizer with higher potassium. Or maybe more patience - my beetroot take a long time for the root to grow.

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01 Aug 09, MuddyKnees (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Only recently started cooking the leaves.. wow! where have I been all these years? Up until now I've had trouble getting the gold and the white variety to germinate.. But I've raised all their seed well this winter in a mini-hot (warm?) house.. I earlier thought the seed was at fault.. Going to try the newspaper pre-test next time as suggested. Thing is, the leaves from the gold variety are the BEST of all the beetroot types I've tried, not that the others are not great.. Do yourself a treat and buy a pack of New Gippsland Seeds Beetroot Mix (1092) which will have both of these and all their others in it.. I'm finding beet tops well worth leaving the plants in for a good time.. how long I haven't determined yet.

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12 Sep 09, Linda (Australia - temperate climate)

Hi, First time beetroot grower would like to know how will I know when the beetroot is ready to pull out of ground and how do I cook it please.

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