Gardening Articles: Edibles :: Vegetables Beets and Turnips by
National Gardening Association Editors Beets and turnips are
special greens because their roots are also edible. Beet greens
are most nutritious and taste best when they're harvested young
and tender. Fortunately, there's an easy way to have a lot of
young greens and still keep plants in the garden for a long time
to produce plenty of mature beet roots for later. The secret is
to plant beets in fairly thick wide rows. Beet seeds resemble
tiny scraps of cork and are bigger than most other salad and
green crop seeds. Beet seeds are actually a dried fruit with up
to six seeds inside. So spacing them at least one inch apart is
important. Try a 15-inch-wide row if you haven't planted wide-
row style before. Plant early in the season, two to four weeks
before the last frost-free date. After the seedlings are up,
thin with a rake and then sit back and wait for the green
bonanza. Start gathering your greens when the plants are about
six inches tall. Pull u