Sheet beets( chard) can be annual and biennial. Root crops, it does not form, has a taped or fibrous root, strongly branched. All the power of the plant goes to the formation of a powerful rosette of succulent leaves on thick, strong petioles.
The common beet is a biennial plant. In the first year, it forms a large, fleshy root-crop, and in the second year, a flower stalk, on which seeds are tied and ripen. However, beets are usually grown in an annual crop for the harvest of tasty and healthy roots. To obtain seeds leave only small special uterine areas.
Ordinary beets are divided into three subgroups:
- dining;
- sugar;
- aft.
Beet
It can be divided into two categories: red and white. Krasnoporodnye varieties are the most common, we usually call them "beetroot".
White varieties are less popular and are not even always known to the wide consumer. To taste, white beets are very similar to their red relative. It has a green leaf rosette and small elongated roots with light skin and pulp. It is used in salads, marinades, as well as in dishes where coloring of other ingredients is not desirable. The white-fruited variety Albina Vereduna is the most popular worldwide.
Do not confuse white beet with sugar and fodder. Sugar and fodder beets also have light flesh, but are not eaten.
Red beet varieties have a color of pulp and skin of root crops from carmine-red to dark burgundy, almost black. On the cross section, bright concentric rings are clearly visible. The shape of the root in red beets can be the most diverse: flat, rounded, elongated-conical, cylindrical and spindle-shaped. Varieties with a rounded and flat root - the most early ripening, productive, good presentation. They are grown for summer consumption. Mid-season and late varieties have more elongated roots and a well-developed root system. Such root crops are well kept in winter.
Red beet is divided into three types:
- Vindifolia - a group of varieties with green leaves and petioles. The petioles may be slightly pink. Root crops have the form of elongated conical, with powerful roots.
- Rubrifolia - this group of varieties from the most shoots has a dark red color of leaves and root crops. The fruits are quite diverse in shape: elongated-conical, round, flat. Varieties do not tolerate heat and have not the highest productivity.
- Atrorubra - this group includes the most common varieties of beetroot. It is characterized by dark-colored roots, bright green leaves on red or pink petioles, high productivity. The leaves have pronounced red veins.
The group includes the following known cultivars:
- Bordeaux. Has oval or round dark red mid-season root vegetables. Light rings on a cut are almost not visible. Leaves are standing, green, on pink scapes, reddening to autumn.
- Egyptian. It has a pronounced flat shape of root crops. The size is medium, the color is very dark, sometimes with a purple tint. The leaves are dark green, with red veins and petioles. By autumn, the red color is enhanced. Varieties are usually precocious, few-flowered.
- Eclipse. The leaves of this type are very similar to the Egyptian, but have a more powerful outlet and a lighter color. Root crops oval-round and round, dark color. Varieties of early ripeness, few-flowered, some resistant to drought.
- Erfurt. Unites late ripening drought-resistant varieties. The root system is extensively branched, which makes harvesting difficult. Root crops are large, elongated conical and cylindrical. On a cut characteristic rings are well visible.
Varieties of this type are intended for winter storage. This group includes the famous Dutch "Zillindra", which has a spindle-shaped root crop, immersed in the ground only a third of its length.
In recent years, breeders have bred new beet varieties: yellow and striped. These beets have retained the taste and the whole set of useful substances of the familiar red beet. The merits of these new varieties are in their high decorative effect.
The most famous yellow fruit varieties are Burpee’s Golden and Golden Surprise. Of the striped most popular grade "Chioggia".
In Russia, early-ripening beet varieties are grown for summer consumption and mid-season for winter storage. Late-ripening varieties have time to ripen only in the south of the country.
The table beet is used for fresh food and after heat treatment. From it prepare the most various dishes: soups, side dishes, salads, desserts. It is boiled, stewed, baked. Use in combination with other vegetables or as an independent dish.
In addition to root crops, useful beet tops are also eaten. Delicious diet meals are prepared from it. The inclusion of beets in the daily diet contributes to the treatment and prevention of many diseases.
Leaf beet
Leaf beet( chard, Roman cabbage) is grown in culture as an annual. Root crops this plant does not bind. Eat leaves and petioles of an aboveground outlet.
The leaves of chard are large, wavy, shiny, elastic, from green to dark purple. Petioles also come in different lengths, thicknesses and colors. The color range of coloring of the stalks is truly diverse: they are thick-purple, scarlet, pink, green, milky-white, silvery. For a high decorative effect in some European countries, chard is even used as a flower bed.
Mangold is divided into two forms: petiolate and leaf. Leaf varieties with petioles are used in food as part of salads, soups, stews. Petiolate varieties are considered the most delicious and highly valued in European restaurants. Red-peeled varieties are more often used for dishes with heat treatment, green-petioles - for salads.
In Russia, the following chard varieties are best known:
- Red Peppers - “Red”, “Scarlet” and “Beauty”.
- Greenwood - Green.
- Silverchink - Belavinka.
The average period of ripening of leaf beet leaves is 2-2.5 months. Chop the chard selectively, cutting off large leaves on thick petioles. With this method of collecting the plant continues to increase the leaf mass. Sometimes the chard outlet is cut off completely. Leaves should be cut very carefully so as not to soil the soil.
Sea beet
Another subspecies of edible beets is wild sea beet. She belongs to the leaf group. Sea beet got its name for growing on sea coasts close to water. It can be found in India, Africa, England, in the Crimea. Sea beet plants tolerate heat and soil saturation well, growing more than a meter in height.
Locals eat its fresh or dried leaves. Thanks to sea beets, which is considered the forerunner of all cultivars, ordinary table varieties are grown with saline several times per season when grown.
Sugar beet
Sugar beet is an important industrial crop cultivated in large quantities for the production of sugar and ethanol. Its root crops contain 8–22% sucrose. This type of beet was obtained in the 18th century by artificial selection of table varieties.
Sugar beet - a biennial plant, but cultivated as an annual crop of root crops. The mass of root crops, depending on the variety and ranges from 300 g to 3 kg. The root crop is unattractive in appearance, yellowish-white in color, white in the cut. Rosette of leaves in bright green.
Sugar beet is thermophilic and demanding on soils. Best of all, it grows on black soil. The most popular worldwide varieties of German selection. In Russia, the most commonly grown varieties are “Bona”, “Boheme”, “Nancy”, “Klarina”, “Sphinx”, “Mandarin”.
This type of beet, as well as table varieties, has many healthy substances in its composition. Modern summer residents have recently begun to successfully master the cultivation of sugar beet on their plots. It is used as a natural sweetener in compotes, jams, baked goods, syrups, as well as in salads.
If you are going to use sugar beets in cooking, be sure to clean them, as the root of the root crop has an unpleasant taste.
Fodder beet
Fodder beet also belongs to technical crops and is grown for animal feed. As well as sugar beet, fodder beet was bred by breeders from common beet and cultivated as an annual. The composition of fodder beet is almost not different from the dining room, but contains in its composition more protein, coarse vegetable fibers and fiber.
Root fodder beets grow very large, up to several kilograms. Individual copies grew to 30 kg.
They have a very diverse shape: oval, round, elongated conical, cylindrical. The colors of root crops are no less varied: white, pink, green, yellow, orange, maroon. The flesh on the cut is usually white, but it can also be red. Fodder beet roots are not buried in the soil, many of them grow directly on the surface, which facilitates collection.
The variety of beet varieties and varieties makes it one of the indispensable products in our life. Beet root vegetables contain a large number of important vitamins and minerals. Therefore, we all just need to choose a variety to your liking and settle this unpretentious vegetable in their garden.
