[ti:Want to Grow a Root? Beets Are Hard to Beat]
[ar:Jim Tedder]
[al:Agriculture Report]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English 
[00:02.89]Agriculture Report.
[00:04.82]People might think that 
[00:06.94]beets are always dark red. 
[00:09.18]But this tasty root vegetable 
[00:12.22]also comes in other colors. 
[00:14.34]There are pink,
[00:16.02]yellow and white beets, 
[00:17.64]and beets with circles 
[00:19.63]of red and white inside.
[00:21.61]These are known as 
[00:23.23]candy cane or candy stripe beets.
[00:26.22]Beets are high in nutrients 
[00:28.89]including folate, 
[00:30.76]iron and fiber. 
[00:33.12]They can be eaten fresh 
[00:35.43]or frozen, canned or pickled. 
[00:38.78]And not just the root 
[00:40.40]but also the tops can be eaten. 
[00:43.26]The leaves make good salads 
[00:45.81]when the plants are young, 
[00:47.49]and the greens can be cooked 
[00:49.79]when the plants are older.
[00:51.97]Beets do not require 
[00:55.27]much work to grow. 
[00:56.95]They like cool temperatures, 
[00:59.56]between sixteen 
[01:00.99]and eighteen degrees Celsius. 
[01:04.29]They grow best in full sun 
[01:06.90]and in loose soil 
[01:08.89]that is not too wet.
[01:11.38]Remove stones from the soil 
[01:14.05]while preparing the ground. 
[01:16.35]And test the soil 
[01:18.28]before adding lime 
[01:19.65]and fertilizer. 
[01:21.14]Some experts say 
[01:23.01]the best fertilizers for beets 
[01:25.25]are low in nitrogen.
[01:27.80]Beets need the acidity level 
[01:30.29]in the soil to be six 
[01:32.46]to seven and a half.
[01:34.77]Beet seeds can be planted 
[01:37.75]as soon as the soil is able 
[01:40.12]to be worked at the start 
[01:42.04]of the growing season. 
[01:43.79]Planting them every two 
[01:45.65]or three weeks will 
[01:47.45]provide a continuous harvest 
[01:49.88]into the fall.
[01:51.62]Professor Cindy Haynes 
[01:54.73]at Iowa State University 
[01:56.85]suggests planting the seeds 
[01:59.21]one and one-quarter centimeters deep. 
[02:02.38]They should be planted 
[02:04.19]in rows that are spaced thirty 
[02:06.92]to forty-six centimeters apart.
[02:10.04]Overcrowding the plants will mean 
[02:13.33]that the roots cannot 
[02:14.89]spread out and grow. 
[02:16.69]Thin the beets 
[02:18.81]by removing the smaller ones. 
[02:21.11]These can be used as greens.
[02:23.60]Cindy Haynes says 
[02:26.77]little or no fertilizer 
[02:28.88]is needed in fertile soils. 
[02:31.31]But once the seeds are planted, 
[02:33.92]she does suggest covering the soil 
[02:36.72]with a little mulch 
[02:38.96]to protect it during rains 
[02:40.64]and dry periods. 
[02:42.63]She also suggests 
[02:44.56]putting a fence 
[02:45.99]around the plants 
[02:47.54]to keep away rabbits and deer.
[02:50.47]She says the only work 
[02:53.20]needed once beets 
[02:55.01]have been thinned 
[02:55.94]is weeding and, 
[02:57.74]when the weather is dry, 
[02:59.17]a weekly watering.
[03:00.98]Some people like beets 
[03:03.90]prepared simply in butter. 
[03:06.08]Others like to cook them 
[03:08.88]with cinnamon and ginger.
[03:12.17]However you like them, 
[03:14.48]for best results, 
[03:16.09]beets should be picked 
[03:18.21]when the roots are two 
[03:20.39]and one-half centimeters around. 
[03:22.94]Beets much larger than that 
[03:25.80]can be tough and have 
[03:28.16]to be cooked for a long time.
[03:31.21]And that's the VOA Special English 
[03:35.50]Agriculture Report, 
[03:37.43]written by Jerilyn Watson. 
[03:39.98]For transcripts, MP3s, 
[03:42.72]podcasts and captioned videos 
[03:45.95]of our reports, 
[03:47.07]go to 51voa.com. 
[03:51.43]You can also share comments 
and questions. I'm Jim Tedder.