Description
Merlin grows quickly to produce tender-fleshed, dark ruby-red, globe-shaped beets. These Beets have a high brix content of 12-15%, which means they are sweeter! Harvest at any stage of maturity; either as babies or fully sized up, because these beets hold their flavour and donÂ’t get woody or tough. Excellent for roasting, Beet salads, main dishes or pickled Beets.
Planting Instructions
Seed as early as possible in spring. Plant seed 1 cm (1/2 in) deep in rows 45 cm (18 in) apart. Once plants are up, thin to 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 in) apart. Use thinned plants for steamed greens, which are extremely high in vitamins. Make repeat plantings during summer. Young beets have a better quality. For a good crop of beets for winter storage make sure you do a seeding mid-summer.
To Harvest: When the root tops begin to push up above the ground, carefully remove the soil around one of them to to check size. Best size is 5 cm (2 in) diameter. Pull the roots out of the ground, do not dig them up. Leave an inch of stem on root to prevent ‘bleeding’ when cooking.
