Stripes 'n Gold

Beta vulgaris

Interested in planting a breeding project? Most gardeners and farmers would rather know what they will harvest when purchasing seeds, however many of us plant rainbow chard or salad mixes. This beet seed is similar. The population, while not consistent in colour, are fairly uniform in shape and harvest windows. Plant a row and harvest striped, gold, red, and anything-in between beets from just one planting. This project started by crossing two of our favourite varieties from the BC Seed Trials in 2016. We will keep you posted as we develop a new future beet variety, but invite anyone to take what we have started and develop your own…. or just plant a row and harvest a plethora of multi coloured and patterned beets.

Growing instructions

Direct sow 4 weeks after last frost to mid summer. Sow 5-10cm apart in row, 45cm apart, and 1cm deep. Full sun / part shade, cool season Biennial. Ideal soil pH of 6.0-6.8. Germination: 5-12 days. For uniformly sized beets, thin to 7-15cm apart when seedlings are 5cm tall. Harvest at any stage, but for best flavour, pull the beets as soon as they reach full size of about 8-10cm.