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Beets Can’t Be Beat
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November 23, 2009
Beets Can’t Be Beat

Greetings Friends of the Farm,

    At some point, the hot season has to end.  “Typically,” if such a word has any meaning at all, the seasonal change point is late October. That’s when chills deaden any further desire on the parts of eggplant, tomatoes, and okra. In a typical year that is.

    I don’t think I’ve yet lived through a typical year. Seems each year is totally different from the last. And so this year, when August came in June (and stayed) and spring came back in September and October, late November is this year’s change point.

    And so, today we are taking out the newest crop of okra. Not that it is ready. Indeed, the okra, grown with RAIN, is ten feet tall and producing some nice pods, but in its exuberance, it now shades out one of our favorite “typical” winter crops: beets.  I love, love, love beets: steamed, boiled, roasted or grated raw over a Succulent Spinach salad. I adore them.

    Causing me major blues, Larry has already told me that this may not be a “beet year.”  Last year certainly was. We had mountains of beets on our market tables; even a couple of markets where we couldn’t sell all of the bunches, there were so many, like 175  or 200 bunches. Enormous quantities of beautiful beets coming off such a tiny farm. I loved every one of them.

    Alas, in hubris more suitable for last year, I planted beets in early September, but even with spring-like weather, the crop didn’t germinate well, so I planted more between the successful seedlings. The second sowing was not quite right either, so I sowed again, getting more and more nervous. We’ve since harvested the first round, in rather (historically) paltry amounts, and we’re now waiting on the next (paltry) generation.

    Larry tells me he had trouble with worms on the beets at the Gause farm, thus giving credence to his prediction.

    Meanwhile out in the back field here, a bed of golden beets germinated well in October, and ditto a bed of Chioggia beets. Then the okra took off (fueled by repeated rains), and since it is in the next two beds just east of the beets, the morning sun hits it and skips the beets. Oh! UGH! The beets! In the shade! Not getting the very best sun!

    This morning I alerted the Marias that I was taking the okra OUT (and not out to dinner; out OUT). A bit shocked, as they were getting ready to pick something else, they immediately went back for more armor (gloves, long sleeves) and started bending the not-so-jolly green giants down to their level, snipping off the tender pods. Behind the ladies, I slowly made my way with the clippers, slicing through the succulent stalks -- many of them as large as my wrist -- at the point where they disappear into the soil. We leave the roots in the ground, as they are full of minerals and sheathed in carbon, to decompose and nourish the next crop. The sheer height of the plants called for some one to holler “timber” as they crashed down in utter disbelief. Wow, they hollered, it’s June and we ain’t ready to go yet!!


    But even with the rain, it’s not June, it’s almost Thanksgiving, and yes I know, I should be taking out the old crop that slugged its way through the drought and heat and stands finally only five feet tall. But it’s not casting shadows on the beets, and I am berserk over having a beet crop, especially since Larry has foretold a bad beet year.

    Sluusshk, the blades of the clippers slice through the thick trunks. Sluusshk, again and again. Like cutting a fresh-dug potato in half with a sharp knife. Sluusshk. So easy, even though my hair is almost yanked out of my head by the tumbling plants. I’m thinking the old crops’ stalks will be woody and really tough to cut, but by then Don Lupe will be though planting the snapdragons and he can cut them out. (Sorry, Don Lupe.)


    I lay the okra plants along the beds and the morning sun finally makes its magical acquaintance with the beets, and the yellow and red chard, which has also been affected by the giants. The new crops will all grow really fast now I think, as I cut and drag and lay out the plants.

    It’s not such hard work, but suddenly I remember to bring Boss Chick and her/his wee friends out of the kitchen and to the back yard for some sun. I’ve constructed a circle of fencing mesh around their bird cage and they romp around with great glee. Of course Boss Chick, being the leader, climbs to the top of the bird cage and eyes the great beyond, so I make a roof out of a table cloth to keep her/him inside.

    I don’t get back to the okra, as there are many things to do here and I think I’ll leave it for Steven who will be working this afternoon. It’s kind of a manly task after all, and I’ve proven it’s an easy one. Even a woman can do it. Especially one driven by beets.

    Here’s hoping for sun tomorrow morning so the beets can gain the energy they need to turn their future successful. Beets can’t be beat you know.

    Carol Ann

    PS: Of course we are OPEN on Wednesday, prior to T-day, and the farmstand tables will be groaning with the weight of broccoli, butter head lettuces, sweet potatoes, Succulent Spinach, six different salad mixes, etc.  And, we’ll also be open Saturday with what you need to get right with your body.

   

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