Can you store beetroot & turnips?

Hi everyone, I'm not sure when all my beetroot should be harvested? Could I keep most of it in the ground until late October? I'm just trying to figure out ways of storing it as currently I think I have at least 100-120 beets still in the ground, I'm going to try & pickle some in air-tight containers, but is there any way I could store some in a cool, dark, dry place to keep it fresh? The same question applies to my turnip, is there any way I could store them & use them as required? Any advice welcome.

 

I've read that turnips used to be stored in cellars which were cold and damp, you don't want to dry them out as the flavour becomes more bitter, which means no long term fridge storage. Would a clamp work?

 

Harry will tell you

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4bz4eItVHQ"]YouTube - Victorian Kitchen Garden: SEPTEMBER[/nomedia]

 

100 beets? Crikey. I squeeze in a dozen or so in succession when other crops are harvested.

Do you people ALL have massive gardens and plots?

There was someone a while back with 100 climbing beans or something.

I want a bigger garden....sob...

 

I use half me sisters plot as well. Try annexing the nearest roundabout, put a hi-vis jacket on & you can get away with anything, my old site manager was late back from lunch once, he'd put a hard hat & hi-vis on & walked, unchalanged, half way to wales as they were building the second seven crossing.

 

He only went half way, so thats £2.25 :hehe: I'm going to take a community chest card now, see if I get a get out of Wales free card.

 

1/ Did he return to your side? If so, £2.25 each way makes £5.50. :gnthb: 2/ You can get out of Wales free anytime, you just have to pay for the privilage of visiting our beautiful country.:yho::yho::yho::D

 

Wouldn't fancy growing root veg on a municipal roundabout.

I loved Alys Fowler's column in the paper the other day though - advising "guerilla gardening" bulb planting, stealing leaves from green bags for your own leaf mould. Good girl!

 

I lifted a parsnip to see how they were doing & forgot to pick it up from west bay for a week. It had shrivelled & the slugs had had a go at it.

 

Thanks everyone, I've kind of over done it with the beetroot I know, but last year most of my seeds rotted due to very heavy rain so I didn't want to take any chances, the sand suggestion in Ziggy's video sounds good! As for the turnips I think we'll probably get through the crop without needing storage, but if need be I'll keep them in a cool, damp place & hope for the best. Thanks again.

 

Glad to be of help FS. Grated up a raw beetroot for the kids the other night, they ate the lot & came back for more. After a summer of trying to feed em french beans & spinage, without sucess, that made a pleasant change. Will be growing a lot more next year.

Probably got about 40 of them. Will be doing a bit of pickling soon.

Ooo, thats a thought on preserving, last year I bought a 25kg sack of carrots, it was only £3. They started to go over quicker than we could use them so I cut them up & dried them in the oven.

I'm still using them in stews. Don't see why that wont work with beetroot too.

 

Great tips Ziggy. Beetroot in it's natural form seems to be an aquired taste amongst my family & friends, I love it though!