More like chard in flavour than beetroot.

Agree they are much more like swiss chard. How chewy they will be when cooked depends on how young you pick them. I have never noted any real difference in flavor between varieties.

Dave

I never grew beets before. About to start some seeds. I saw that I should soak the seeds over night . Any other growing advice? I love Swiss Chard, so that will be great. Thanks for the info!!

If you are growing them for the leaves then you can sow them thicker compared to growing them for roots.

zackey - you can pre-soak the seeds if you wish but you sure don't have to do it. Have grown beets for over 40 years and never once soaked them first. :)

Main thing about growing them is that each "seed" is actually multiple seeds so space them accordingly and you will still have to thin them a couple of times as they grow.

Dave

Thanks, Dave! I read somewhere you had to. Also I didn't know one seed would produce several beets. I want to just eat some of the beet leaves without killing the beet. Do I need to wait until it is mature to try some leaves?

No need to wait to try some leaves but don't over harvest. In my experience the more often you harvest leaves then more energy is put into leaf production and less into roots.

Thanks for your input. I was wondering how to do that and not mess up the beet production. I'm really more interested in the beets than the leaves. Someone told me they were edible so I got immediately curious....

I would plant them closely and as they get bigger I would thin them for use.
Finally I will have them about 6" apart. I do this with swiss chard.
Younger chards, beets can be used just like spinach.

I received beets with lots of greens on top last week in my CSA box.
I cooked them with a little bit of bacon and onion. They are very tasty. (These are organically grown here locally.)
I roasted the beets and they are good, too.