Beetroot is probably not the most popular vegetable in the beds of summer residents. Indeed, why bother with its cultivation and storage, if it is always in the store, it is inexpensive, and how much it is necessary. Meanwhile, the choice of table beet varieties is increasing, and seeds of breeding varieties are becoming more and more available. And they are not only the usual beet color.
The fact is that this vegetable has a rich and diverse composition of plant pigments, which allows you to vary the colors and shades of the root crop — from traditionally burgundy and dark cherry to yellow and absolutely white, as well as with white rings inside and even changing their color as they ripen — from white to red.
Beets are diverse and beautiful not only in the roots, but also in the tops — cuttings and leaves — so the bed with colorful varieties looks very elegant.
True, domestic breeders improve mainly the taste and yield of the usual maroon beet, but among foreign varieties, multi-colored ones are increasingly found. Although it is difficult to call them novelties, the history of the appearance of some varieties is lost in the centuries, but in our seed market they have only just begun to appear and are still quite rare, and sometimes there is confusion with the names.
Multicolored beets: interesting varieties
- On sale, most often you can find seeds of varieties with yellow root crops under the names ‘Golden Ball’ or ‘Golden Globe’. Their origin is unclear, so we can assume that they are just renamed imported ones.
- One of the oldest and most popular American varieties of yellow beet is ‘Burpee’s Golden’. “Golden” it was called not by chance, the bright pulp of the root crop literally glows, and the taste is very pleasant. The weak side of the variety is low seed germination, so it is recommended to sow them more often.
- The ‘Boldor’ variety is also beautiful — with yellow flesh and orange-colored skin. Bright green leaves with yellow veins and yellow petioles also look quite nice. The germination of seeds of this variety is higher, the root crops are more aligned in size. The flesh is also delicious, sweet.
The leaves and stalks of these beet varieties can be eaten raw in salads, or, like spinach, steamed, boiled or fried. By the way, this also applies to the varieties ‘Golden Surprise’ and ‘Golden Detroit’.
- One of the most popular varieties of white beet is ‘AlbinaVereduna‘ (sometimes sold under the names ’Albino‘, ’Albino White‘ or ’Snowhite’). In addition to the sweet root vegetable, it also has beautiful wavy leaves, which contain a lot of vitamins and minerals, so they are also used for food.
They will enrich any soup, mashed potatoes, vegetable stew with their pleasant soft taste, and they will also be suitable as a side dish for poultry and fish. And they diversify the diet, especially for vegetarians and raw foodists, because young small root vegetables can be eaten fresh in salads.
By the way: one of the big advantages of white and yellow beets, which every housewife will appreciate — is that these root vegetables do not stain their hands when cooking and do not leave stains.
Originally from Italy
Perhaps the most unusual variety of table beet is ‘Chioggia’. Its bright round root has an orange-red skin and shiny dark green leaves with ruby-red cuttings. And under the skin-almost white flesh with thin red rings. But as you grow, the red rings expand, and the white ones narrow.
In the boiled form, the whole root crop becomes pale pink. The appearance corresponds to the taste-tender, juicy, sweet. Boiled and raw, cut crosswise into circles or along with hearts, such beets will decorate any dish.
This variety of beet got its name from the Italian city of Chioggia, located on the islands of the Venetian Lagoon (as, by the way, and a wonderful variety of pumpkin with the same name).
Sometimes on sale you can find a set of seeds called “Rainbow beet”, which usually includes one traditional red variety, one yellow, white and striped ‘Chioggia’. Probably, this is convenient for those who want to get acquainted with all the colored beets at once without taking up much space on the beds.
These varieties are grown in the same way as ordinary ones. Their advantages are in the precocity and small volume of the root crop, which can be quickly prepared (long heat treatment destroys many useful substances of beets), and with a fairly tender pulp — it can be eaten even raw.
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