What to with an impending great surplus of...

Deleted by self.

 

The burning question is......do you like pickled beetroot? Unless the answer is yes, in which case it would be worth investing in some second-hand Kilner jars, you could try making beetroot wine in the buckets

 

Beetroot wine is an idea, however when I made some it went brown over about three months, taste was still alright just that brown wine doesn't look appealing.
Beetroot cake, basically carrot cake, but substitute the carrot.
Can roast it.
My solution has been to grow less.

 

Borscht ?
Your Dietitian: Making borscht to show solidarity with Ukraine

 

Or give some away to family & freinds

With all the high cost of living some one will take them

 

Dehydrate them. You can make fashionable crisps to eat as snacks, and grate the rest. Dehydrated veg take very little space and are great to chuck into soups, casseroles, bread dough, pasta bake etc... Very tasty.

 

Yes
Could lift, remove tops and store in clamp. Potato clamps: Storing potatoes and other vegetables using a clamp « blog.mr-fothergills.co.uk

 

The Easiest Methods of Dehydrating Beets - Drying All Foods

 

They go very woody if they start to bolt, I tend to just leave my autumn ones in the ground (sown in June so if you sowed earlier they are more likely to go woody) until frosts of about -3c, they can go a bit colder I think, maybe the cylindrical ones do better? Although last year I didn't pull them out and that week of cold weather in December turned them to mush. They last well if you pull them in October/November or so in a sack in a cold garage/shed.

Still not tried a clamp though

I get a lot of use out of my dehydrator, although I've not tried beetroot yet. It's on pretty much continuously from August for a few months, although I do pick a lot of mushrooms too. Apples, tomatoes, chillis all dehydrate well

 

In Finland everyone has a dehydrator as the foraged crops of mushrooms and berries all fall on their blessed, privileged necks at the same time (envy, moi? )

Here in the UK I have used the gas oven to dehydrate things, it's quite cost effective especially during the heating months. There's no radiator in our kitchen where we spend most of our time so the energy is well used.

We also have an airfryer, if the last toms look like it I might give that a try this autumn. It's a very energy efficient gadget.

Any form of preserving crops costs something, even running a freezer is not free. For this reason I preserve only things in the form I know I like and will use, no point of freezing peas when Tesco gives me a kilo of perfect ones when I wish.

The best way to use a surplus is to eat it fresh and give away the ones your belly just will not cope with

Oh, nearly forgot- grated raw beetroot with a spoonful of horseraddish and soured cream is wonderful. Great side dish for everything and brill sandwich filler. Unless one has a gadget it also makes a good conversation starter, the colour stays on skin for days.

 

I just tear them off. don't know if it's better to cut them

 

Soup; most things can be turned into soup. Also makes good use of freezer space if you freeze into rectangular blocks.

 

The trouble with freezing soup is that the water content takes up valuable space needed for other things. I'm going to try bottling soup this year, at least the tomato and squash ones.