Seed started outdoors early May

Touchstone Gold

Size: 3 inch roots when early but can grow to over 2 pounds in late fall plantings, the plant is 6-12 inches tall and wide

Location: more sun equals bigger roots, more shade means lots of leaves, small roots

Matures in: 55 days

Native to: the Mediterranean originally, Touchstone Gold was developed by the Alf Christianson Seed Company

Why did I Choose it? They looked really pretty on the webpage and I like beets. 

Uses? We like them best roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper. 

They’re also great in vegetable gratins. 

The frozen, ribboned leaves featured heavily in our winter frittatas or fried with cabbage and sausage or homemade meatballs on the side. 

Specifics: Selected for higher germinations rates these roots hold their color even when cooked. Their flavor is sweet and mild. The solid green tops are more vigorous than other yellow beets tops making for nicer looking market bunches. 

The roots can get to well over 2 pounds in the fall and still remain tender when thinned and watered well. For winter storage plant some in August. 

Extend your beet harvest by planting every 3 weeks throughout the growing season. 

Pro tip:

Beets can be slow to germinate so soak the seed overnight to help start them. 

Companion Plants: 

Beets thrive when planted near bush beans, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, peas, kohlrabi, brussels sprouts, scallions, leeks, onions, garlic, mint, summer savory, borage, chard, celery and lettuce. 

All varieties of chard and beets will cross pollinate. 

For increased crop production plant beets and tomatoes. They won’t compete for root space.

Plant lettuce and beets for weed control.

Plant with radish to mark the row and loosen the soil. By the time the beets start to grow the radish will be ready to pull. 

Some of the best companion plants are from the cabbage family - they add essential minerals to the soil like magnesium. Their leaves added to the compost pile will also increase magnesium.

Garlic and all members of the onion family protect beets from common pests like Japanese beetles, snails, gophers, moles, root maggots and coddling moths. Garlic also improves their flavor and emits sulphur which contains natural antifungal properties making it a helpful agent in preventing disease caused by soil fungi. 

Strongly scented herbs like thyme, hyssop, rosemary, parsley, basil, dill and all mints help keep away cabbage moths, fleas, flea beetles, aphids and rodents. Mint also improves the flavor of cabbage, a companion plant for beets. 

Worried about mint taking over?

Don’t plant it in the vegetable patch. 

Grow elsewhere and clip it throughout the year, using it as a mulch around the plants that benefit from it. This way it won’t smother everything but you still get the pest control.   

Avoid: ?

Personal Notes: We truly loved these beets. I had grown up with red beets, especially pickled, and always enjoyed them. But these beets can be used like any vegetable you would roast. They have a really lovely mild flavor, so if you usually hate beets, you’d probably like these ones. 

My sister gave me some seeds for Detroit Dark Red and some sort of beet turnip, or turnip beet. They made amazing Rosemary Beet Jam. We mix it, half and half, with dijon mustard and I prefer it with beef instead of horseradish. Very delicious!

We definitely preferred the Touchstone Gold for roasting and the leaves also have a milder flavour to eat as a sauteed green with lots of butter and garlic. 

We bought more, a lot more, to plant 2021

Next up May 7 indoor planting

Squash