Anyone want to school me on beets?

[PinkinPA]

I need spinach help too! Any info would be awesome!

[CariOfOz]

I know nothing about growing beets, and everything about eating them lol. So I'm not much help there! Spinach is pretty easy as long as you plant them going into the cooler season... it has started getting fairly warm here and they bolted like mad

Good luck!

[henny penny]

Beets! My favorite garden subject. So easy to grow. Just plant seeds in very loose soil and cover with a fine layer of dirt, a half inch at most. Keep damp till they sprout. Each beet "seed" is actually several seeds clumped together so you'll need to thin each sprouting bunch by pinching out all but a pair of leaves when they are about and inch or two tall. Look carefully and you can see what pair or clump of leaves belongs together. Now the root will have room to grow big and round and beety! Just keep evenly moist and in about a month pull up a test beet. If you like the size, harvest all you need, the rest will keep growing. Young beet tops are good salad greens, too.

[PinkinPA]

Thanks so much hennypenny! Are these ok to plant now or are they a spring thing? I've read two different opinions.

[henny penny]

I've put some beets in just a couple weeks ago and they are growing fine (they do have a bit of afternoon filtered shade). I think if you keep them from drying out in the heat they'll be fine.
eta: I'd actually cover seeds with only about a quarter inch of soil and pat it down ' very lightly' for easier sprouting.

[Hibou]

I don't thin my beets until they're a bit bigger and I can eat the small roots and tops. Just a suggestion.

[koalove]

also, beets have spotty germination in temps above 80 so for a summer planting its best to shade them until the sprout to keep soils cool, or start them inside in a cooler place. i learned this the hard way~ twice.