Way back in the cold days of January, I planted some beet seeds in six packs. I placed these by my sunniest window and waited. I planted on the 17th of January and the beets sprouted on the 22nd, a pretty quick germination time if you ask me. They stayed indoors for a few weeks and on February 12, I transplanted the Detroit Red Beets in my raised bed in the front yard. Last week I noticed that some were ready to harvest. I picked three of the largest looking ones, almost 3 pounds of beets! I washed, peeled, sliced and threw them onto a baking sheet with a glug of olive oil, a little salt and pepper. I roasted them in a 375 degree oven for about 35 minutes. Nothing beats eating freshly picked and roasted beets!

I also planted directly in the ground Early Wonder Beets and Bull’s Blood Beets but I am still waiting to harvest those. Also, a side note about my beets. The leaves are tall and lush and almost look like chard. I noticed wasps flying around my beets and went to check it out. There were brown spots indicative of a leaf miner. I have noticed these trail like spots on my vegetable leaves before but I have never actually seen the culprit. When I looked closer, I could see little larva squirming inside the leaf. Yuck! My instinct was to squish each one I found but then I remembered there would be no more food for the wasps. I decided the wasps could do the dirty work and benefit my garden at the same time. Free pest control!