BEETROOT

Word for the Day  A quiet endeavour

Home  January's Challenge: BE TIDY

No tidiness challenge today! I think I will simply assess where I am at with this "tidiness thing", and consider where in the home I will head next.   

Garden  BEETROOT

Recently I have been growing Bull's Blood Beetroot with its reddish-purple metallic leaves. Young leaves have been delicious in salad mixes, raw beetroots have been  grated into salads, and the beets are also very yummy roasted. 

Years ago I used to pickle beetroot by:

cooking it with its skin on; removing the skin with my hands; slicing the beets and packing in hot, sterilised glass jars; pouring over a mixture of very hot water/vinegar/salt/sugar/2 cloves/peppercorns/& a little salt; then sealing the jar (such as a saved jam jar) with its lid.  Used pickle jars and jam jars are excellent, and give a good seal when the food is bottled quite hot.   The amount of vinegar and sugar used was according to my taste buds, as I did not like too much of these.   

Below is growing info for the sub-tropics in Australia.

Clicking on the following link, you can find info for your climate type and your country. 

http://www.gardenate.com/plant/Beetroot?zone=3

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P

(Best months for planting Beetroot in Australia - sub-tropical regions)

P = Plant direct in garden where they are to grow.

• 
  Seedlings before thinning
• 
  Young beetroot

Soak seeds in water 24 hours before planting so that you can separate the seeds. Thinning is nearly always required as seedlings emerge from a seedball of several seeds. If you don't thin them, you will get a number of rather pathetic plants which don't grow to an edible size. Harvest in 55 - 70 days but will keep in ground for longer. Tolerates light frost.

Keep well-watered as dry beetroot develop a woody and inedible core.

For tasty and tender beetroot, start harvesting at golfball-size.

Culinary hints - cooking and eating Beetroot

Apart from boiling whole for salads, beetroot roast well, cut in wedges.
They also make a tasty salad grated raw with carrot and a little fresh orange juice.

Preventative uses of Beetroot  (from Wikepedia)

Betaini in beetroot has shown in studies to possibly protect against liver disease, particularly the buildup of fatty deposits in the liver caused by alcohol abuse, protein deficiency, or diabetes, among other causes.

Beetroot juice has been shown to lower blood pressure and thus help prevent cardiovascular problems. Beetroot is a good source of antioxidants. Research published in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension showed drinking 500 ml of beetroot juice led to a reduction in blood pressure within one hour, and was measurable up to 24 hours after drinking the juice. Dietary nitrate, such as that found in the beetroot, is thought to be a source for the biological messenger nitric oxide, which is used by the endothelium to signal smooth muscle, triggering it to relax. This induces vasodilation and increased blood flow.

Other studies have found the positive effects beetroot juice can have on human exercise and performances. In studies conducted by Exeter University, scientists found cyclists who drank a half-litre of beetroot juice several hours before setting off were able to ride up to 20% longer than those who drank a placebo blackcurrant juice.               http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beetroot

May all of the seeds 

That each of us sow

Be watered and tended 

And happily grow.

Wishing you happy sowing and successful growing 

from Robyn                                                    

painting of robin by Brenda, my mum.