The Thirsty Beet

Before I start talking about bulbs, let me tell you something fun. It has almost been forgotten, but I was once a world champion in growing beets a long time ago. “Was there a world championship in growing beets?”, you may wonder, and the answer is: yes, for more than fifty years a group of thirsty arable farmers have been organizing an annual competition to see who can grow the heaviest beet. It sounds like a playful event, but make no mistake, it is a serious competition in which no fewer than 500 people participate each year. Each participant has his own—of course secret—strategy. Location, soil type, sheep manure or three-year-old horse manure, nettle juice, lava meal, seaweed extracts, you name it, what is invented to please the beets as much as possible.

Now don't immediately think that I am a professional beet grower, because the year that I won, 1988, was pure luck. Really, I didn't know a thing about beets, I only participated for the fun. That fun was mainly to be found at the annual closing Beet Ball where the champion was revealed and honored and where the word 'thirsty' in the name of the association was done great honor. No, the summer of '88 was very cold and wet, and I had planted the beet seeds in many places around my parental home, where I still lived at the time, and one of those seeds ended up in my father's greenhouse, where my father and I were forcing his daffodils for the Spring Garden. That was actually the only seed that got going well, so we started to pamper it. Goat droppings, Osmo-coat fertilizer, chicken shit and rabbit droppings, everything was thrown at the beet. With a beet weighing 27.7 kg I earned eternal fame, the Wilhelmus was played, I received the trophy, and, not to forget, a kiss from 'Miss Beet 1988'. Beet seed

This year I just felt like defending my world championship. Not so much to be able to go to the Bietenbal (a little bit of course) but mainly to try to grow the thickest beet possible. Because things have changed a lot in the past century. When I won in '88 the record was 32 kg; now you really have to weigh in at 50 kg to get on the podium. The world record to beat is even 71 kg. Unbelievable, a beet as heavy as I am.

So off to the Waarland, where Kees Stoop, head of the district and one of the master beet brains, lives and who, in return for a tenner, gave me a bag of beet seeds packed by Bejo Zaden and a nice cup of coffee. But, don't tell anyone, I'm going to make it this year. The secret to a really big beet can be found in astrology, especially that of the Chinese. So last Wednesday afternoon, exactly during the first full moon in the Chinese year of the snake, I sowed my beets. In toilet rolls, you know those... toilet rolls. And that year of the Snake, now I'm going to whisper because the competition mustn't hear it, is not the year of the ring, rattle or constrictor snake, no it is the year of the garden hose. 2025 will be a bone dry year, bone dry even, you can read it in the stars. So I'm going to plant my beet in May, toilet roll and all, at the end of the garden hose. And a drip hose on top of that, nobody has thought of that yet, I know for sure, it's already a success. My beet is getting obesity, it's turning into a buffalo.

Look, many participants of the beet club have such stories so you understand, conviviality is paramount. But we will stop talking about the beet for a moment because I promised you last week to tell you something about the Daffodils in my greenhouse. Oh yes, if you are interested in participating in the Beet Club, you can find all the information on www.dedorstigebiet.nl . Your beet must be grown in the Kop van Noord-Holland, above the Bergen-Alkmaar-Hoorn line. Whether you live in Buiksloot, Diefdijk or Gaarkeuken, or even abroad, it doesn't matter, welcome to the club, as long as the beet is in De Kop, so that all participating beets are in roughly the same environment. After all, it is the World Championship so everyone can participate, if you have a location nearby I hope to meet you! The greenhouse is chock full, I have 656 pots of Daffodils. Each pot is a different type, so there will be a good 600 different Daffodils in bloom in the coming weeks. More than half are all seedlings, new types that don't have a name yet and are actually still in the selection process. For many of these seedlings, the decision to continue with them has not yet been made. Normally I always look outside in the field to see how they look and how they behave and then I decide whether or not to continue with them. However, in recent years I have always had bad luck with the weather, last year it was a hailstorm that tore the flowers to pieces and the year before that it was a sea breeze of force eight or nine that frayed the flowers. That doesn't work, you can't select like that, so everything goes into the greenhouse, where Mother Nature has less influence on the weather. A big advantage is that I can also take beautiful photos in the greenhouse: better light, easier to find a good angle when they are not on the ground, that sort of thing. They have been in the greenhouse for almost two weeks now, and the first ones are starting to show their colours. Not all seedlings, mind you, also just species that I like and that I want to enjoy or that I want to take new photos of. There are some real sweets among the seedlings, this is one of them. A miniature Narcissus with graceful flowers that does its best every year to bloom at the same time as the snowdrops. This one can stay for a while, and if it grows well and its bulbs are healthy we will come up with a nice name for it. Dahlia Lizz Baaij

Oops, almost 1000 words, and there was still a housekeeping announcement. Today is the last day that you can order Amaryllis bulbs from us. The choice is no longer huge, but there are still a few in the shop. And, with every bulb you buy, you get an extra one—the same story as last week, and the week before. And while you're on the site, the Dahlia assortment is now at its most beautiful and everything is still available. More than 100 varieties, of which a good twenty are new in the Fluwel web shop. One has already sold out, so watch out, before you know it, that one Dahlia that you like so much will also be gone. More about the Dahlia next week.

Kind regards,

Carlos van der Veek