Beatiful. for market or personal consumption?

For personal consumption. Gave a bunch of the beets in the photo away, though.

One nice thing about being so dry around here is how nice the root veggies come out of the ground. The beets and carrots in the photos were not cleaned in any way.

They look really good! The beets didn't grow at my house this year unfortunately. Not sure why yet. They started getting somewhere in May, but then the Slugs got to them.

Holy mackerel! I am green with envy. That is a very impressive harvest. Wish I could grow beets and carrots like that!

I'm impressed. I had a lot of small beets and carrots this year.

Root vegetables and tubers are my favorite winter foods as well. They are hearty, flavorful, and stomach-filling. Throw in a half of a baked squash here and there and I am a happy camper - let the winter winds blow.

I have stored root veggies in moist sand, sawdust, and peat moss. All methods work o.k. but I lean towards the sand method. I have been sanitizing the container and sterilizing the sand just prior to the start of veggie storage the last couple of years and it seems to help. I store veggies in a root cellar at a fairly constant 40 degrees. The cellar has decent humidity levels. I also keep some in the crisper of the spare fridge for quick access.

Beets shown are a combination of Ruby Queen, Cylindra, Detroit Dark Red, Bull's Blood. There are a few Chioggia mixed in - they unfortunately did not do well this year. I must have the right soil conditions for beets - they are in high demand from family and friends because they do not have that "dirt" taste to them. I know people who do not like beets but like the ones that I can grow here. Some of the kids in the extended family even like them.

Carrots harvested were Nantes Scarlet, Danvers, Chantenay, and Imperator. Saint Valery and Cosmic Purple failed - mowed off by either rabbits or deer before I was able to put up protection.

All things considered, Detroit Dark Red are my favorite beets and Nantes Scarlet are my favorite carrots to grow. Maybe they would be considered to be boring selections, but they are tried and true classics and are dependable producers for me every year.

Also got decent harvests of turnips, rutabega, parsley root, and celeriac, but neglected to take photos of them. Some days I am simply too busy to think of taking pictures. Parsnips still need to be harvested, after some cold weather sweetens them a bit. Same goes for the horseradish and chicory root.