This Week on the Pantry Shelf: Beets — The Root That Stains Everything and Is Worth Every Mark

If you've ever pulled a beet out of the ground, you know the feeling. You tug on the leafy top, and a deep, dark-red globe comes up out of the soil as if it's been hiding a secret all summer. By late October, the gardens across Cape Breton have given up most of their showy crops, but the beets are still there, quietly sweetening in the cool soil, and this is exactly when they're at their best.

Beets belong to this island's kitchens as much as any other vegetable. They're hardy, they grow well in our cool climate, and they store for months in a root cellar, which made them one of the great workhorses of the Maritime pantry. Before supermarkets stocked fresh produce year-round, a cellar full of beets, carrots, turnips, and potatoes was how families got through winter.

And then there are the pickled beets. If you've ever been to a church supper, a Legion hall dinner, or a funeral luncheon anywhere in Nova Scotia, you know the dish: a bowl of glistening ruby slices in sweet-sharp brine, sitting beside the ham and the scalloped potatoes as if it had been there from the beginning of time. For generations, pickling beets in the fall was a ritual in Cape Breton kitchens, with big pots on the stove, steamed-up windows, and rows of jars lined up on the counter to cool.

Beets also happen to be good for you: they're a good source of fibre, folate, and potassium, and the leaves, if you've got them, are edible too, much like Swiss chard. But we'll be honest: nobody in our kitchen grew up eating them for their nutrients. We ate them because they were sweet, earthy, and delicious, and because they turned everything on the plate a gorgeous shade of pink.

This week, we're celebrating beets in the ways they've always been eaten on this island: pickled, buttered and hot, and tossed into a fresh salad. Pull up a bunch from the garden or pick some up at the market, and let's get our hands stained.

This is the classic Maritime pickled beet, sweet and tangy, with cinnamon and cloves for warmth. It makes about four 500 mL (pint) jars. Pickling is a lovely, satisfying fall project, but it does follow strict safety rules, so please read the notes below the recipe before you begin.

Makes about 4 pint (500 mL) jars

Follow a tested recipe: Beets are a low-acid vegetable, so the proportion of vinegar matters for safety. Don't reduce the vinegar or swap in a vinegar weaker than 5% acidity. If you want to change the recipe, check a trusted source first, such as the Bernardin Guide to Home Preserving or the National Center for Home Food Preservation.

Processing times: Times depend on jar size and altitude. If you live above 1,000 feet, or use quart jars, check your processing time against a current, tested source.

Check your seals: Any jar that doesn't seal can be refrigerated and eaten within a few weeks. Discard any jar with a bulging lid, leaking, or an off smell.

Hot Buttered Beets The simplest, and many people's favourite. Boil whole, scrubbed beets for 30–45 minutes until tender, then slip off the skins and slice or quarter them. Toss in a warm pan with a generous knob of butter, a good pinch of salt, a grind of pepper, and a small splash of vinegar. Serve piping hot beside roast chicken, pork, or meatloaf.

Harvard Beets A sweet-and-sour classic. In a saucepan, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tbsp cornstarch, 1/2 cup vinegar, and 1/4 cup water. Simmer until thickened and glossy, then stir in 3 cups of cooked, sliced beets and 1 tbsp butter. Heat through and serve warm.

Fresh Beet Salad Roast 4 medium beets wrapped in foil at 400°F (200°C) for 45–60 minutes, until tender. Cool, peel, and cut into wedges. Toss with a handful of arugula or mixed greens, crumbled goat cheese or feta, and toasted walnuts. Dress simply with olive oil, a splash of maple syrup, and a squeeze of lemon or a little cider vinegar. Season with salt and pepper.

Choosing Beets: Look for firm, smooth beets with fresh-looking tops. Smaller beets tend to be sweeter and more tender.

Don't Throw Out the Greens: Beet tops are edible and delicious. Sauté them in butter or oil with garlic, like chard or spinach.

Stain Control: Wear gloves when peeling, and rub lemon juice or salt on your hands to lighten any pink stains. Cutting boards stain easily, so use one you don't mind marking.

A Fun Fact: Eating beets can turn your urine or stool pink or red. It's harmless and quite common, but it does startle people the first time. Consider yourself warned.

Storage: Fresh, unwashed beets with tops removed keep for several weeks in the fridge, and much longer in a cool, humid root cellar.

Every October, there was one day in my friend's house when you could not escape the beets. It was Pickling Day, and it was announced with a certain grim determination, usually the morning after the first hard frost.

By seven o'clock, there were two big pots going on the stove, the kitchen windows were fogged up solid, and the whole house smelled of boiling beets and, underneath, something warmer and sharper: vinegar, cinnamon, and cloves. It's a smell I can summon in an instant, even now, decades later.

My job, as the loudest child in the room, was to peel. I stood at the sink with my sleeves rolled to the elbow, slipping skins off hot beets while my friend’s mother sliced and my friend filled jars, and by the end of the morning my hands were stained a deep, shocking magenta that lasted for days. At school on Monday, a boy asked if I'd been in a fight. I told him it was a good fight, and I'd won.

The best part, though, was the sound. Once the jars were out of the canner and lined up on a towel on the counter, we'd all stand there quietly and wait. And then, one by one, ping. The lids sealing. My friend’s mother kept count out loud. "That's six. Seven." If every jar sealed, she'd announce, with great satisfaction, "Well, that's winter taken care of."

Every jar was labelled with the year in her careful handwriting. Some went to neighbours. Some went to the church supper in November. The rest lined the cellar shelves, jewel-coloured against the dark, waiting for the first snowfall and the roast on the Sunday table.

I make pickled beets every fall now, in my own steamy kitchen, with my own stained hands. And I always, always stand by the counter at the end, listening for the pings. It's still my favourite sound in the world.

"My husband and I started a vegetable garden a few years ago, mostly as a pandemic project, and beets were the one thing we actually managed to grow properly. We had so many that first year that we didn't know what to do with them, so I called my mother-in-law, who had been pickling for sixty years.

She came over the next day with her big enamel pot and her own jars and spent the whole afternoon showing me what to do. We didn't measure a thing. She just kept saying, 'You'll know.' I didn't, but it turned out fine anyway.

This is our fourth fall pickling together, and I've come to realize that the beets were never really the point. The afternoons are. I hope I'm still doing this with her in twenty years."

— Jessica P., Port Hood

Jessica, "the beets were never really the point" is the heart of every good pickling day. Thank you for sharing that. We hope you and your mother-in-law are standing at that kitchen counter listening for the pings for many years to come, and that your cellar shelves are always full.

If you don't have your own garden, this is the time to visit your local farmers market or farm stand, where beets are in abundance and at their sweetest.

Across Cape Breton, growers are bringing in their fall harvests of beets, carrots, turnips, potatoes, cabbage, and squash. Many offer beets in bunches with the greens still attached, and some sell by the bushel for pickling. Ask the grower which varieties they've got, and don't be shy about asking for tips. Most farmers have strong opinions about the best beet for pickling, and they'll happily share them.

Many markets and farm stands wind down as the season ends, so check local listings for current hours, and stock up while you can. A bag of beets and a free afternoon are all you need.

Ready to find the best fall produce and local growers? Use our Cape Breton Travel Hub to map out your harvest adventure!

🍴 Browse farmers markets, farm stands, and local growers 📍 Get directions and plan your route ⭐ Discover where to find the freshest root vegetables on the island

Whether you're hunting for a bushel of beets for pickling, stocking your root cellar, or just enjoying the fall harvest, our interactive travel hub helps you find it all.

Start Planning Your Food Tour →

Kitchen Companion helps you make the most of a bumper crop. Tell it you've got a pile of beets, and see what it comes up with.

👉 Generate your own recipes: https://capebretoncompanion.lovable.app/

Cheticamp is more than a place. It's a feeling. It's the sound of French being spoken on the street. It's the smell of the ocean and the cliffs rising up golden against the water.

This tote bag carries that spirit with you. Its watercolour illustration captures Cheticamp's wild beauty, with the dramatic coastline and the light that's particular to this corner of Cape Breton.

It's also sturdy enough to carry home a bushel of beets, a few bunches of carrots, and a bag of potatoes from your favourite farm stand, all without complaint. Use it for market runs, groceries, or anything else you need to haul from the car to the kitchen.

Made sturdy to last. Designed to remind you of home.

Shop the Cheticamp Tote Bag →

There's a quiet satisfaction in a row of full jars on a shelf. They're a reminder that you spent an afternoon on something that will still be giving back in the dark of January, when you open one on a snowy night and the smell of cloves and vinegar fills the kitchen.

Get your hands stained this week. Buy a bunch, boil a pot, and pickle, butter, or roast. Share a jar with a neighbour, and save one for the church supper.

That's what the beet is for.

From our kitchen to yours.