Detroit Golden Heirloom Beet Seeds

Days to Maturity: 50 to 60

One of the best golden beets for flavor and yields, an heirloom variety, Detroit Golden Beet, commonly called a beetroot, is grown as a root vegetable, producing gorgeous bright orange globes with golden flesh. Milder and sweeter than red beets, the roots are very tender and are excellent for canning, pickling, roasting, and cooking. They do not bleed when cooked. A dual-purpose crop, this variety is often grown mainly for the delicious leafy greens, which are even more nutritious than the roots and are especially tasty sautéed.

This herbaceous biennial, typically grown as an annual, is a member of the amaranth (Amaranthaceae) family. Detroit Golden Heirloom Beet grows quickly, forming a basal rosette. Open pollinated, it produces seed that will grow true to type, ideal for seed saving.

Well-adapted to most climates, it prefers full sun and fertile, organically rich, light to sandy, moist, well-drained soil, but it tolerates light shade and salty soils. The plant can be grown in containers. Succession plantings every 2 to 3 weeks is recommended for continual harvest.

A cool-season, semi-hardy vegetable, one of the first to be planted in the garden, it can be direct sown into the garden as soon as the soil is workable in early spring, before the last frost date. It needs cold temperatures to germinate and grow and can withstand temperatures in the 28- to 32-degree range. It not only tolerates light frost but also becomes even sweeter. Fall crops should be sown from midsummer through early fall, starting about 4 to 6 weeks before the first fall frost.

Soak seeds for 24 hours before planting.