Harvested My First Beet of the Year From the Garden

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The leaves of the beets in my garden at work are getting pretty big and I was wondering if they might be ready to pick. I heard somewhere that if you start to see the tops of the beets out of the soil, they are ready to pick so I looked for one that fit the description and I picked it.

Guess what!

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…they’re not ready (sorta) 😉

But look at the beautiful colors. I love eating my fruits and veggies of color.

I did a quick search online and found a forum thread on when to harvest beets and people seem to suggest that it’s really just a matter of preference. If you pick beets when they’re small, they will be higher quality, but obviously lower yield. Or you can wait for them to grow halfway out of the ground, but the longer you wait, the lower the quality and tougher the beet will get. I guess it’s just something I’m going to have to experiment with.

I’m excited to go home after work today to blend this little guy, and his leaves, into a delicious smoothie. I think I’ll make a beet, ginger, spinach, and banana smoothie. Mmmm.

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