The Sweet Sugar Cane Alternative That Grows Well In Cold Climates

You know that some of the sugar you purchase in stores is derived from sugar cane, right? You may also know that unless you live in a tropical climate, you wouldn't be able to grow sugar cane in your yard. There is a cold-tolerant tropical variety that will bring a touch of summer to your home, but it's purely decorative. You'll also find that extracting the juice from the cane and converting it into the final product is quite an involved process. But, did you know that some of the sugar you buy also comes from a root vegetable? Commonly known as sugar beet (Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris), this crop is grown commercially in the United States, as well as some European countries. In fact, sugar derived from beets, makes up about 30% of the world's sugar production. The good news is, you can grow this sweet sugar cane alternative in your yard, as it's not regarded as invasive, even if you garden in a cold climate.

Although extracting the sweet syrup from the beets and then turning it into sugar crystals is still a relatively involved process, the benefits of growing these beets in your garden are that both the root and the leaves are edible. Nevertheless, if you want to try making your own sugar, it would be a fun exercise to grow the beets and give it a try. You've got nothing to lose because you can use the leaves in stir fries and other recipes, and cook the roots just like you would ordinary garden beets.

Sugar beets are just as easy to grow as any other root vegetable. As such, sugar beets are best grown from seed sown directly into the garden, as transplanting can cause root deformity. Sow the seeds in spring after the last frost date. However, if you do want to start them early indoors, sow them into peat pots, toilet paper rolls, or something similar that you can plant straight into the garden without disturbing the roots. If you're directly sowing seeds into a garden bed, individual seeds should be planted half an inch deep and 6 inches apart. They should start germinating in about five to 10 days. Keep the soil moist during this time, but make sure it's not overly wet. 

You might want to protect young emerging seedlings from slugs and snails as those tender young leaves make a tasty snack for these pests. You can either set slug traps or use wildlife and pet safe snail pellets. As you know, the weather can sometimes be unpredictable, so if you find that there is a late frost predicted after your seedlings have emerged, just cover them with a row cover or fashion empty soft drink bottles into individual plant cloches. Be sure to remove these as soon as the sun comes out again.

Caring for sugar beets is not that difficult. Your plants will require consistent moisture during their growth, so just give them a good soak whenever the top 2 inches of earth feel dry. As long as your soil contains a reasonable amount of organic matter, there's no need to supply your crops with any extra fertilizer. However, if you have poor soil, choose a fertilizer that contains ample amounts of phosphorus as this helps with good root development. Too much nitrogen will give you lots of leaf growth at the expense of thick, well-developed roots. 

When growing sugar beets in your garden, patience is the key because it can take around 80 to 100 days for them to reach maturity. In the meantime, you can harvest some of the outer leaves and use them in your kitchen creations. These beets are one of those vegetables you should wait to harvest until after a big frost because they'll end up sweeter.  If you're familiar with growing other root crops like carrots and garden beets, you'll know that you can roughly determine the size of the roots by looking at the crown that's poking through the soil, so harvest them when they look large enough. Finally, as these are biennial veggies, you could leave a few in the ground and let them bolt the following spring, so that you can collect the seeds for the next crop.