Origin
Mediterranean
Light
Full sun
Watering
Weekly
Care
Moderate
Flowering
Flowering
Edible & Fruit
Betterave
A purple root tasting of sweet earth — and the plant that let Europe make its own sugar.
Care Profile
A guide to ensuring your botanical companion thrives.
Origin
Mediterranean
Light
Full sun
Watering
Weekly
Maintenance
Easy
Sugar without the colonies
From the same species as chard, it was first grown for its leaves before selection developed the fleshy root.
A German chemist identified in it sugar identical to cane sugar in the eighteenth century; when the continental blockade cut Europe off from colonial sugar, sugar-beet growing began on a large scale.
"A blockade gave birth to an industry."
01
Styling Tip 01
Don't damage the root
Sow in place and thin with scissors: a root cut during transplanting never forms properly again.
02
Styling Tip 02
Cook it in its skin
Boil it whole and unpeeled: peeled beforehand, it loses colour and much of its flavour to the water.
03
Styling Tip 03
Edible leaves
The tops are prepared exactly like chard: nothing on this plant goes to waste.
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Origin
Mediterranean
Light
Full sun
Watering
Rarely
Care
Easy
Flowering
Flowering