Today, I picked all the beets. There’s only about 25-30. That’s really quite a manageable number and not quite as intimidating as expected. Some of them are really, really big; some are quite small like a golf ball…just how I like them. Tomorrow, I’ll give the greens to the goats and chickens although I’ve heard they make a nice addition to a salad when they are young. These are a bit too weathered for my liking. I did offer one giant beet to the chickens and I’m waiting to see if they devour it or toss up their noses (if they even have noses). Last year during the happy deluge of pears, we would toss some to the chickens and they would speed eat through a whole pear in less than a minute. They really gave Petunia the pig, who still holds the current pear eating record, a run for her money.
Really, the biggest issue I have with the beets is, other than the goats and hopefully the chickens, I’m the only one who likes them. Knowing this, I really tried to be frugal when planting, but really 25-30 beets is quite a lot for one person. And I haven’t gotten into the whole canning and jarring aspect of food yet (that’s for next year…I’m still researching the equipment). I hope I don’t sound like I’m complaining. I am truly amazed that anything is growing! And I am very grateful for the abundance. You know, my mom had to walk 50 miles uphill in the snow barefoot just for one beet. And I am happy to have the opportunity to live this way of life.
Note to self — As I’m writing this, I realized in my eagerness to pick the beets, I failed to leave 2 in the ground to seed for next season. Beginner’s mistake. Don’t do that with the carrots. — End note to self.
So begins the great beet cook-off. I have a few recipes I’m going to try like lemon and garlic roasted beets that according to Food & Wine magazine pairs quite nicely with a good red wine — but then again what doesn’t? And then there will be my attempt at a beet bread ala zucchini bread. I really think this could be delicious. I’m going to start posting the winning recipes on this site…as soon as I figure out how.
In the meantime, I will prepare beets and try to convince John and Jett that they are worthy of eating. Or else, I will simply eat beets until I become purple and round like Violet Beauregarde and am rolled off into Oompa Loompa land.