Beets. You either love them, or you hate them. If you're a member of the beet fan club, you'll be happy to know that beets are a wonderful item to store in a root cellar. Beets are easy to grow, easy to harvest, have a long storage life and are wonderfully flavorful. Plus, they add a great dash of color to your winter menu. Read on to learn more.
Instructions
1. Harvest the beets in your garden before you harvest any carrots or potatoes. They are slightly more susceptible to frost damage than carrots or potatoes so should be processed for root cellar storage first.
2. Use a pitchfork to gently and carefully loosen the soil around the rows of beets.
3. Remove the beet greens approximately 1 inch from the top of the beet. Don't cut too close to the top of the beet or the beet will bleed, which will accelerate spoilage.
4. Leave the pointed beet tip intact.
5. Spread newspaper on a table and lay the beets out to cure for a few days. Remove large clumps of dirt by gently brushing them off by hand or with a cloth rag.
6. Pack the cured beets in layers of moist sand, saw dust or peat moss in a cardboard box or wooden crate.
7. Store the boxes or crates in the root cellar. The ideal storage temperature is 32 degrees Fahrenheit at 90-95% humidity.
