They are biennials so won't just die and might even survive until next year when they would run up to seed. But roots will become tough, stringy and inedible unless they are a winter keeper type.

Hi there. I agree with the comments from oldroser above. But it seems to me that leaf production may be pretty limited once the beet root is fully developed. You should get much heavier leaf production from swiss chard, a member of the beet family with little root - comparatively - and masses of foliage. It's a biennial usually grown as an annual. I hope this helps. Maureen

Forager,
I second both of the above posters (especially momamamo - cute name but hard to keep track of all those m's when your trying to spell it). I kept both beets and swiss chard in the ground all winter and they both did quite well in our mild climate. However the beet roots did loose some of their sweetness and did get slightly tougher when it got cold and growth slowed, though they were never inedible. You will get more leaves from the chard and I would grow that for the leaves unless I were specifically looking for the faint beet aftertaste of the beet leaf.

Steve

I don't see anything unusual about momamamo's name. :)

Q...,
I won't even try yours.

Steve

Hey, who's making fun of my name? ;) I had wanted it to be mamamo (I'm a mom named Maureen), but the system wouldn't let me. Well, alrighty then, I thought...and MOmamamo was born. And Q..., I agree with Steve! M

I'm not sure we need any mo, mamamo.

I think mamamodomino would be cool too.

So you mean nomomamamo?

'night all. Maureen