A vibrant yellow-orange root vegetable prized for its sweet, mild flavour, tender texture, with an absence of the intense staining associated with red beets. A popular gourmet choice for both gardeners and cooks.
Golden beetroot varieties were documented by the early 19th century, with types such as ‘Golden Beet’ grown prior to the 1820s. Despite this early history, the golden beetroot remained relatively obscure until the 1940s. The Burpee Seed Company then introduced ‘Burpee’s Golden,’ popularising them for home gardens.
The roots have golden-yellow to orange-yellow skin and matching interior, with flesh that is dense yet smooth and creamy, even when grown to a larger size. The flavour is notably sweeter and milder than that of red beets, lacking the strong earthy taste some people find overpowering. The edible greens are also highly valued, being tender and flavourful, often compared to spinach or considered superior to chard. Golden beets caramelize beautifully when roasted, can be shredded raw into salads and are excellent for pickling, where they retain their bright colour.
For cultivation, they prefer full sun at least six hours per day and loose, well-drained soil, are well suited to cool-season growing and can tolerate light frosts that enhance sweetness, and are best harvested young at 4-7 cm in diameter for peak flavour and tenderness, with seedlings thinned to a spacing of about 8-10 cm apart.
Before the 16th century, medieval recipes in England largely focused on the leaves of the plant, rather than the root. However by the 19th it was widely grown for the root. It is then through the 1800s we see the development of the golden beetroot, with it finally being popularised by Burpees in the 1940’s.
A vibrant yellow-orange root vegetable prized for its sweet, mild flavour, tender texture, with an absence of the intense staining associated with red beets. A popular gourmet choice for both gardeners and cooks.
Golden beetroot varieties were documented by the early 19th century, with types such as ‘Golden Beet’ grown prior to the 1820s. Despite this early history, the golden beetroot remained relatively obscure until the 1940s. The Burpee Seed Company then introduced ‘Burpee’s Golden,’ popularising them for home gardens.
The roots have golden-yellow to orange-yellow skin and matching interior, with flesh that is dense yet smooth and creamy, even when grown to a larger size. The flavour is notably sweeter and milder than that of red beets, lacking the strong earthy taste some people find overpowering. The edible greens are also highly valued, being tender and flavourful, often compared to spinach or considered superior to chard. Golden beets caramelize beautifully when roasted, can be shredded raw into salads and are excellent for pickling, where they retain their bright colour.
For cultivation, they prefer full sun at least six hours per day and loose, well-drained soil, are well suited to cool-season growing and can tolerate light frosts that enhance sweetness, and are best harvested young at 4-7 cm in diameter for peak flavour and tenderness, with seedlings thinned to a spacing of about 8-10 cm apart.
Before the 16th century, medieval recipes in England largely focused on the leaves of the plant, rather than the root. However by the 19th it was widely grown for the root. It is then through the 1800s we see the development of the golden beetroot, with it finally being popularised by Burpees in the 1940’s.
