Something I Cant Wait to Grow this Spring

Early Wonder Beet is
an old heirloom from
the 18th century.
This beet produces early smooth round beets. Early wonder
also provides plenty
of tender greens too!
I hear this is a perfect beet
for pickling, fresh
cooking or borschts.
You can grow both an early
and a late season crop.

For forty years I have avoided beets like the plague. I think it stems back to my childhood when we used to eat at a restaurant which always served a beet red spiced apple slice on the kiddie plate. I really loved that apple slice. But, later on I would begin to find this beautiful beet red slice on my plate at home. I would happily think it was a spiced apple and I seem to recall that my mother would assure me it was an apple slice. But much to my dismay after taking a great big bite, I would discover with a pucker that it was instead a sour pickled beet....My mom would laugh and laugh and think this was great fun. Eventually I vowed that I would never again taste anything magenta.

More recently however I was lured into eating a most amazing magenta beet salad just because it was just so shockingly beautiful. It was also dotted with goat cheese and nuts and just screaming for attention in magenta madness from the glass deli counter. Maybe because it wasn't soaked in vinegar, and maybe because I wasn't expecting a spiced apple, I found the beet salad to be really really yummy. I was saddened to think I had missed out on this vegetable for decades all because of some childish misunderstanding.

Then a few months ago at a quaint little restaurant in NYC with my daughter, I ordered a beet stuffed ravioli dish. I don't know what possessed me to do such a thing, but I had traveled along way to visit my daughter, and I was feeling adventurous. I found that the beet ravioli surpassed my expectations by miles. It was so divine that I think about it months later and my mouth still waters.

I have never grown beets in my garden before because of my early life beet trauma...but I cant wait to grow them this year!

Gardenlady's Top Ten Reasons To Grow A Garden This Year!

1. You can avoid genetically altered, irradiated and chemically treated foods.
2. You can get better taste, more vitamins and nutrients, and better looking food from just picked produce.
3. You can save money on your weekly grocery bills.
4. You can eliminate worries of nasty germs getting on your produce at large processing and packing plants.
5. Your children and other family members will be more enthusiastic about eating vegetables they helped grow.
6. You can have the convenience of fresh herbs and vegetables growing right outside your kitchen door.
7. You can grow something to share with friends and neighbors.
8. You can do something "green" while learning to appreciate nature.
9. You can reap health benefits in your garden from exercise, fresh air and vitamin D producing sunshine.
10. You will enjoy a great sense of accomplishment when you eat something you have grown yourself.