Chiogga beets on the left and Cylindra beets on the right
I just harvested my beets I planted in the spring and got 13 lbs! I grew two heirloom varieties- Cylindra and Chiogga.
The Cylindra beet is originally from Denmark although the seeds are available in the states as well. They are a rather long, sweet buttery beet which is great when sliced. It is a dark red and actually grows a little out of the soil so they are easy to see when they are ready for harvest. One of my favorite varieties of beets.
The Chiogga (pronounced kee-OH-gee-uh) is an Italian heirloom that was establish in the 1840s. It is a round beet that has beautiful pink and white concentric stripes inside and the flavor is sweet as well-another favorite of mine.
I’m going to start more from seed for a fall harvest. Anybody got some great recipes for beets?
giantveggiegardener 
Yes Jannine the beets look marvelous! The Cylindra you gifted me was delicious raw and cooked. Easy to slice. We roasted them in the oven along with turnips and carrots. Yum! The Chiogga is a flashy, striped beauty! I’ll try it in the fall (CA). Thanks for sharing your expertise!!
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Thanks!
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Your beets look gorgeous….I love the look of the striped ones. I’m sure they are yummy!
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Thanks Pam!
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Cylindra looks like it would make more slices of the right size than the more typical round beets. ‘Detroit’ (which I know is cliche) is still my favorite, but it has fewer slices between the ends, and the middle is too wide for pint jars. I get just a few jars of perfect jar sized slices, and several more jars of awkward bits, and even a jar of the trimmings from the fat round slices (just because I want those two jars of perfect sliced to impress the neighbors with). ‘Detroit’ is still my favorite, and I don’t need perfect slices anyway. ‘Cylindra’ is actually available in nurseries here. There are actually several varieties that I have not tried, just because I will not give up on ‘Detroit’.
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My favorite thing to do with beets is roast them. Then you can do a bunch of different things with them, like put them on salads. Possibly my favorite is to slice them and put them on a bun for a sandwich with some sautéed spinach and goat cheese.
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thanks for the great ideas!
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