12:19 pm
January 27, 2011




You will not get too far on the Plant Your Dream Blog
or our new website before you start running into
the metaphor we use for turning your beat around with
nature through growing a beet in a pot.

HERE IS AN INTRO ARTICLE ABOUT THIS
WITH BROOK LARIOS,
ORIGINAL PUBLISHED ON THE EXAMINER IN APRIL 2009


FOR HOT LINKS,
PLEASE VISIT THE ORIGINAL EXAMINER SITE
http://www.examiner.com/sustainable-food-in-san-diego/growing-your-own-produc...



Growing your own produce may be simpler than you think
June 3rd, 2009 11:39 am PT

Keep the Beet in all Her glory
When Gloria Estefan implored us to "Turn the Beat Around," she probably didn’t know that the position of the beat…or beet…is of little consequence when planting the fine vegetable -- as long as it's not upside down.
According to Leslie Goldman, a San Diego-based activist passionate about healthy living through the art of drawing closer to the Earth, the beet is one of the easiest vegetables to grow. He spreads the word about this concept through Keep the Beet Media Star – a mascot of sorts that has drawn attention from locals, diplomats and celebrities like model Ashley Van Dyke and actor Ed Begley Jr., known for his dedication to the environment. Keep the Beet and Goldman’s message is traveling so widely that they earned a piece of cyberspace last year on The Huffington Post, continually one of the highest-ranked political websites on the Net.
The premise behind Keep the Beet is that growing a beet gives people the confidence to grow a slew of their own organic fruits, herbs and veggie varietals. For those with a gray thumb, this could be a long anticipated solution that years of therapy couldn’t even cultivate.
“I’m playing with the story of an actual beet that decided she was tired of just sitting in the ground, watching the human race become more and more fragmented, and the beet, whose name is Keep the Beet, decided to speak up,” said Goldman, also known to friends as The Enchanted Gardener.
Keep the Beet encourages people to make friends with a local, organic farmer; purchase the largest beet they can find and repot it, keeping it alive as it sprouts billowing, edible green leaves.
“Once you repot the beet and water it and care for it, you will find that the same rules that apply to taking care of a plant apply to taking care of the part of each of us that is like a vegetable – the biological part that’s millions of years old,” Goldman said. “Most of us have lost connection with the…organic, biological part of ourselves. Most of us today are fragmented. We’re possessed by things we need to do and we’ve lost the basic beat with nature. So, the metaphor of growing the beet is the way to reconnect with the beat.”
If the beet doesn’t take right away, don’t be discouraged. For some, it may be simpler to grow root crops from their seed state, according to Candy Nerz, plant information specialist at City Farmers Nursery in City Heights. In addition to whole organic beets, they offer a slew of seeds, including organic beet seeds, and they sell both new and recycled pots. They also offer a selection of fine potting and topsoils, including Foxfarm’s Forest and Ocean blend, which Goldman recommends for beginners.
“That blend in a nice sized pot will practically grow anything,” he said. “We want a city where everybody can grow food.”

Goldman’s Tips for Growing Your First Beet
- Get the best potting soil (Fox Farm Soil).
- Remove the greens, leaving less than an inch remaining, and eat them raw, lightly steamed, sautéed with olive oil or, suggests Goldman, with Bragg Liquid Aminos.
- Place the beet in the pot and cover it with soil. Let a little bit of the top of the beet show.
- Water it regularly and, within a week or less, it should begin sprouting more greens. They’ll continue to come up healthy for at least six months.
- Add soil nutrients along the way.
(If you decide to stop eating the leaves, the plant may put up a stalk and make hundreds of seeds.)

To find a beet near you, visit a local farmers market or one of the following locales:
J.R. Organics - Valley Center
Sage Mountain Farm - Aguanga
La Milpa Organica - Escondido
City Farmer’s Nursery - City Heights
Ocean Beach People’s Organic Foods Market - Ocean Beach

For more info: Goldman holds several monthly events dedicated to bringing people closer to the foods they eat. Learn more by visiting his Plant Your Dream Blog.

Continue reading on Examiner.com: Growing your own produce may be simpler than you think - San Diego sustainable food | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/sustainable-food-in-san-diego/growing-your-own-produc...



FOR A WHOLE LOT MORE ABOUT THE
BEET, See
BEET KEEPERS OF THE WORLD UNITE
http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1209704

4946, January 28, 2011,
9:59 am

 

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