Beets Grow Better with Cow Manure

Last spring we ordered 5 tons of cow manure from a local farmer.  In the fall we added the manure to the garden and rotor-tilled it this spring.  What a difference this manure has made!  Check out the pictures below, click to enlarge them.

The Detroit Beets definitely show us where the manure wasn't added.  All of the seeds are the same variety and planted on the same day but the seeds in front produced a lot better.  

This picture was taken from the opposite direction.  Can you see the difference?  Last summer the beets limped along all summer and were woody in the fall---now we can see why!  Even the cabbage shown on the right depicts a lack of manure in the middle.  If you look in the background of this picture you will see bright green tufts---that is bolted lettuce.  Using lettuce for row markers works really well!

Last fall Jon planted beets hoping they would overwinter and be ready in the spring.  Turned out they bolted right away this spring and are now producing seeds!  We have never let beets bolt so we plan to gather seeds this year. 

Paul was pretty excited to pull the beets for thinning!

And we all enjoyed a tasty dinner of boiled beets, stir fried bok choy & scapes, pea pods, and beet leaf salad with hard boiled eggs---all from our homestead.