Beetroot Boltardy

The variety against which every other beetroot is measured. Boltardy has been the standard British beetroot for generations, and there is a reason the well-known growers keep coming back to it: sweet, evenly round, deep ruby roots with tender flesh and no woody rings running through it.

The name is the clue. Beetroot is unusually sensitive to cold — a fortnight below ten degrees in early growth reads as winter to the plant, which then bolts to seed the moment warmth returns. Boltardy resists that trigger better than any traditional variety, which is what lets you sow it from mid-March under cloches rather than waiting until May.

It is open pollinated, so seed saved from your best roots comes true the following year. Twist the leaves off rather than cutting them when you harvest, or the root bleeds its colour into the pan.