Harvesting and Storing Beetroot

[Admin]

Screenshots of the evaporated thread.

[jayb]

Quick update, despite the overall mild winter the beets stored really well in damp sand in a dustbin. Way to go and I won't be so hesitant to do this again.

[Galina]

Good news, half the battle won - enjoy replanting and growing seeds at last!.

[Hector1]

That sounds a good approach. I haven't tried anything like that ( want to be nosy and ask if you make cheese...but being polite)

[jayb]

Yes, love making cheese, really relaxing and enjoyable. Only trouble is the hard cheeses take ages to mature and I'm not sure I improve at it. But they are fun and we have had some stunning results, just wish they were healthier to eat! Are you a cheese maker?

Good news, half the battle won - enjoy replanting and growing seeds at last!.

Closer, but not there yet!

[Silverleaf]

Ooh, making cheese sounds interesting! Is it hard to do Jayb? I've always fancied having a go. Not that I eat a lot of cheese, but I love cooking and food preparation.

[jayb]

No it's not hard to make cheese, just takes a bit of time and a bit too much standing. Recreating the same hard cheese twice, now that is an art! Soft cheese are the easiest and sooooo scrummy it's untrue, probably best not to make them very often!
That's the biggest drawback, the quantity. Soft cheese isn't so bad and is easy to share with friends and family, the hard ones can be made in the small 'truckle' size so are fine, need space to store them though. I did buy a cheese press otherwise it's a bit more hit and miss with weighting the cheeses, amazing how high you can make a stack of tins and, rice and pulses! There's quite a bit of info and recipes on the internet, Katie Thea's books are great.

[Silverleaf]

I'll have a little search, thanks!

I've made yogurt cheese a few times by hanging Greek yogurt in muslin for a week, rolling it into balls and putting it in jars with garlic and herbs and covering with olive oil. That was amazing, but I guess it's not really cheese, right?

[jayb]

I've never done it like that but yes very similar

Buttermilk or soured cream work really well as starters, add a drop or so of vegetable renet and once the milk has been left somewhere warm over night and then drained it makes a lovely soft cheese. I guess if you added a bit more weight and kept it draining a bit longer it would firm up some more.

I had a big disaster when I tried making ricotta. It was just too long a process and I couldn't concentrate, ended up with a nasty scalded/burnt pan and some equally rank solids!

[Hector1]

I strain home made yoghurt and add crushed peppercorn but not made any hard cheese. I want to try that

[jayb]

Oooh go for it, they really are delish!

[Hector1]

Ive overwintered some Touchstone beetroot...planted and hoping for seed

[Hector1]

Touchstone are producing flower heads. Really need the site where they are planted Do you think Ill get away with moving. I had to replan Asparagus bed site so need a shift around. Dont want to miss out on this seed

[Galina]

Oh tricky. You'd need a lot of watering in and mollycoddling if you move them at this stage. I'm not sure it is advisable even with a lot of aftercare. If there is any way you could leave them it would be better: This is the time in the beetroot's life cycle when the roots change their function. They don't quite work like roots anymore (that would re-root easily), but they lignify and feed the plant by giving up their stored energy until they are spent to allow for seeds. Plants grow much taller at the expense of that energy stored in the roots. I guess if they are right at the beginning of the stretching stage, it would be possible but not when they are already making flower heads. By the way, when they flower, they smell very sweet.

[Hector1]

Thanks for that. ILl try and work round it. MY new bargain polytunnel was a different size than expected...so big plan rethink.

[jayb]

I'm with Galina, I think they would really struggle, though I think they would still be able to produce some seed, though the quality and quantity would suffer. Several years back I removed some flowering chard plants and as they were such big plants I was going to cut them up before composting. Turns out they remained propped up against the compost bin, in the end seeing them there I just felt guilty at pulling them up when they were trying so hard to finish their cycle. Sparrows loved the seeds! It was fairly shaded and I did water them a fair bit.