QUESTION: If I’m planting fall beets, when do I harvest them? Can you leave beets in the ground over winter? -Tina R.
ANSWER: If you have free-draining soil in your garden, it’s safe for you to leave many of your root crops in the ground over the winter to harvest as needed in most climate areas. Parsnips, carrots, turnips, kohlrabi, beetroot and swedes are all able to be left in the ground over winter, usually without losing any of your crops to rot, disease, or pest infestations.
The foliage on the tops of the plants will likely die back, but the harvestable fruit that lies just beneath the surface of the soil will be just fine if left in the ground to harvest after winter has come and gone. Add a layer of mulch over them for extra protection against the elements. If you expect an extremely cold winter, with sustained temperatures of 25 degrees and below, it’s best to go ahead and harvest all of your root crops so as not to chance losing them due to freezing.
Beets can withstand temperatures around 30 degrees F for sustained periods. If beets are left in the ground throughout the winter, they will begin producing spring greens very early. Be sure to harvest your beets before they start to regrow these leaves, as the flesh of your beets will turn woody if you don’t harvest them in time.
It’s mid February, and I just harvested my beets and carrots. But I know better: I should have done it in November.
A good bit of the flavor of beets is the sugar they store. They’d like to use all of it growing greens and making seed, next spring, but apparently they have to burn some to survive winter. By the time they sprout new tops all of the sugar and most of the flavor is gone. As for this year’s three-months late harvest–I’ve just been too busy–the larger beets are still sweet, but the smaller ones have already burned their sugars. Carrots left too long also loose their flavor, and with it, I expect, much of their nutrition. So yes, you can leave root vegetables in the ground all winter, but the longer you leave them, the less you’ll like them.
Thank you for the tips.
I have achieved good yield this year & not sure how to preserve them.
I don’t want to loose the taste.
How long can I store my beetroot after harvesting
I didn’t understand this, as I’m not knowledgeable with gardening. I just purchased a property with an amazing garden. The previous owner passed away before harvesting many things, including a few rows of beets. I pulled one and it appeared woody and had white spots in it. We left them in the ground as we hadn’t closed on the property yet. Now its winter and we won’t be working the garden until Spring. I have no idea what I can leave, if I can leave anything or if I should start fresh. If I keep anything, how do I tend to it? He had tomato vines on an arbor, cucumbers and beets as far as I could tell.