Beets are one of those perennial crops you don’t just plant to enjoy right now. They should last you all through the winter months too! But how to store beets exactly, when my garden already contains root veggies, summer crops, and all sorts of delectable treats?
No hobby gardener’s freezer will ever be large enough to store everything that a small garden provides; so we must find ways of preserving, canning, freezing, and even just fresh storage of our produce in winter.
To store fresh beets successfully during winter months, cut off their tops and layer containers with moist sand, sawdust, or woodchips containing moistened moisture. As with other root vegetables, beets require a cool dark humid space above freezing for optimal storage; when handled appropriately they could last six months or more with proper processing!
Let’s delve into the details of how to store beet from sowing through harvest!
When Is It Best To Harvest Beets For Storage?
My garden offers two methods for producing beets every year: spring-sown crop for summer harvest and late-summer crop for fall harvest. At each stage, I multi-sow my seeds in clusters of three or four (some years more successfully than others).
Multi-sown beets grow together until their surfaces meet and push apart to become medium-sized, ideal for storage purposes as well as kitchen use.
Beets reach maturity within 60 days, making them suitable for growing as two successive crops or as two primary ones as I mentioned above.
Spring-sown beets begin life indoors under grow lights before transplanting out around mid-April, then being harvested between mid-June to early July. When working with multiple sowing beets, harvest may occur at various points within each clump – harvest gradually by twisting out only those beets that have reached maturity while leaving other beets growing further below ground without uprooting altogether!
Summer-sown beets begin their life indoors to protect them from excessive heat. By late July/early August they’re transferred outside, where they should reach harvest sometime between late September/early October.
An important note on summer-sown beets is to water them regularly and evenly; depending on your climate and rainfall patterns, spring-sown beets might do better; test both to find which works better!
How To Store Beets: Step-by-Step Guide for Harvesting and Processing Fresh Beets
By harvesting my spring-sown beets early this season and placing them into storage, I am freeing up valuable garden space to be planted with another crop in fall while protecting root crops from bolting and enjoying them throughout summer as my second set of beets mature.
No matter when beets are harvested, here’s the same method to ensure how to store beets:
- Assemble all your beets from the ground and sort by size to determine which will store best and taste better. Larger varieties tend to store for a longer duration and offer even greater flavor than small varieties.
- Remove damaged, damaged, and blemished beets before setting them aside.
- Avoid washing or scrubbing off their dirt; it could damage their delicate skins.
- No need to ferment beets before storage! They’ll stay fresh longer.
- Snip off beet tops leaving 2 inches of stem, being careful to leave at least two inches for bleeding stems to occur. Wear gloves as this could leave your hands red from handling bleeding beet stems! Don’t throw away all the tops; freeze some to use in soups and stir-fries later. They taste just like Swiss Chard.
- Use any plastic bins with lids, containers, buckets, or whatever is convenient containers will likely weigh the most after filling them up!
- Be careful that you can still easily lift and carry these heavy objects when they contain all their contents!
- Cover your plastic bins with a mulch of your choosing: sawdust, woodchips, or sand – anyone will keep moisture locked inside while helping maintain fresh beets over the long term.
- Place processed beets inside bins without touching each other or the edges. Cover each layer of beets with mulch; water the sawdust/woodchips/sand mixture so it becomes damp before use.
- Secure the lid securely before placing them in a cool and dark area for storage.
Where Should Beets Be Stored For the Long Term?
Each gardener should own and utilize a root cellar. In wintertime, I find my root cellar to be like my very own grocery store: when shopping with fresh vegetables comes seasonally! For optimal storage conditions year-round and cool temperatures above freezing (the ideal goal).
Do not despair if you do not possess a root cellar; modern times tend to overlook this luxury. Instead, convert part of your home space such as:
- cold balcony (if available),
- crawl space,
- garden shed or
- Basement,
- Garage
- Attic
As an alternative, and provided your climate allows it, fall beets may also be left in the ground until spring comes. Just make sure they’re covered with thick mulch such as wood chips or leaves and harvest before spring arrives; winter frost will only make their flavor sweeter!
How Long Do Fresh Beets Last When Stored?
If you know how to store beets properly in an ideal storage condition; a cool, dark place with sufficient moisture levels. Beets may last six months at minimum before becoming soft or going bad; though we usually consumed all our harvest by spring anyway so I have never experienced one going soft so can’t say for certain whether there is an expiration date on beets; though I will keep some and see how they fare!
Stored Beets Have Sprouted; Can I Still Consume Them?
As with other root vegetables that have been stored fresh carrots, turnips, celeriac parsnips or beets. Beets may sprout at some point when kept stored away for too long.
As they lack exposure to light, beet sprouts that emerge at their top will likely have light pink, spindly sprouts. Don’t fret over them too much though; just snap off any unwanted sprouts before eating your beets (never having tried), which are sure to taste fantastic anyway!
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Conclusion
Follow the complete details on how to store beets. Beyond fresh beets, I also like keeping canned roasted beets handy and sometimes, marinated beet salad in my refrigerator for use when making other tasty treats like Ukrainian borscht or roasting my beets in my toaster oven.
Beets boast an earthy taste and become sweet when cooked properly; you either love or loathe this vegetable; I certainly fall into the latter camp! So here’s to growing and storing beets you simply cannot beat!