Plant 2 to 3 weeks before the last frost date for your area. Fill the 13 inch round container with soil to one inch below the rim. Make one row down the middle of the container and a row 3 inches away on each side of the middle row for a total of 3 rows in the container. Make the rows 1/2 inch deep. Plant seeds about 1 inch apart in each row. Cover with soil. Thin to about 3 inches apart when seedlings are 1 to 2 inches tall.
Harvest when the beet root is the size you want. You can use both the greens (leaves) and the beets (roots). You can harvest some varieties of beets early if you want ‘baby beets.’ Beets have a ‘multigerm’ seed meaning you can get as many as 4 plants from each seed. If you notice several small plants growing very close together, thin them out until you have one plant every 3 inches.
The greens can be eaten fresh but are generally steamed and eaten cooked. The greens are a great source of vitamin A. The beet (root) can be boiled, oven roasted or cooked in a pressure cooker. The beets are sweet and a great source of Vitamin C. You will be surprised at how good garden fresh beets taste.
A small pressure cooker is one of the most useful cooking items you can purchase. It will cut the cooking time on root vegetables (beets, carrots and potatoes) dramatically.