The seeds were planted in a plastic
tray that came with the fridge, I never knew what it was for but with its
clear lid it made an ideal propagator! By the 30th June signs of life had
started to show, in fact about an inch and a half of life.
Time for the seedlings to stand up on their own two feet and face the world, trouble is . . . they didn't, they decided to lay down instead and look limp and lifeless no matter how much I shouted at them.
Having almost given up a couple have decided to give it a go, the secondary leaves now thrusting forth.
August 5th: They seem to have got a grip now and are about 5 inches high with a spread of around 7 inches.
Despite some sort a leaf decay and attack one plant seems to be fighting back, This plant is 12 inches high, the others range from 4 to 8 inches.
I had to resign myself to the fact that these we're not going to grow any bigger, time to up root them.
It was simple enough in the end, top and tail the beetroot (after washing of course) and place them in a saucepan of boiling water for an hour . . yes, an hour.
The water will turn red in less than a minute. After an hour use something pointed and have a stab, if it's soft then they are ready. There are degrees of softness of course, you may prefer something with a bit more crunch, it's down to personal taste.
From here they can be skinned and sealed in jars with pickling vinegar or in our case . . . we just ate them, and you now what, they were good, just like the real thing.
