This is my first year at trying to grow massive amounts of beets - well, at least 4 rows of beets.

My seeds went in on or about May 5. The varieties that I have are Detroit Dark Red, Morse's Strain (supposed to grow to 3" in diameter and say 60 days to harvest) and organic Yellow Intermediate Mangel Heirloom (grow 2"-8" roots harvest in 65-70 days).

My garden is in raised beds that are 8'x4' in diameter (obviously the beets only take up a portion of this!) and are filled with the following: layers of newspaper at the bottom, aged horse manure (free from Fairmount Park), UCGs from Starbucks, grass clippings from the first cutting (it was long!), and then compost (again free from Fairmount Park). Interspersed is the kitchen veggie clippings and some egg shells (more clippings than egg shells). My mix seems to be working for all of my veggies since everything is thriving, tons of green tomatoes and I have already harvested zuchini, my lettuce and spinach were awesome, already have peppers growing.

So I go out this morning with my coffee to check my plants, water if necessary, etc. I notice that some of my beets (both the red and the yellow) are showing the beet tops just above ground. Some are just showing, some are about a 1/4" above. The largest diameter showing (from what I can see) is about 3/4". The greens still look awesome, and everything looks okay and not dying.

My questions are what to do with the ones showing? (1) do I leave them alone, (2) do I throw more compost around them to cover them up, or (3) do I harvest them?

I guess my concern is that I used ONLY compost, which again seems to be doing wonders for my garden, but I'm wondering if it's settling and I just need to add more.

Thanks in advance,

Pam

Havertown, PA

(I've attched a picture of my beets, although you can't see the ones above ground, you can see where they are planted, etc.)

Here is a link that might be useful: