[Rob the rake]

For years, I've grown the yellow mangels, which look like a yellow version of the cylindrical beetroots, but reach up to a couple of kilos in weight. They are similar in flavour to a white beet, with a crunchier texture, and will stand all through the winter. Protection is essential as our four-footed friends like them as much as I do! I notice that a red version seems to have surfaced...has anyone on the forum tried them yet?

[Subversive_plot]

I don't, but I remember seeing MWs in seed catalogs when I was a boy. They are a perfectly good vegetable, just a little less picture-perfect compared to other beets. Livestock don't seem to care what they look like. They are a good source of calcium and magnesium.

How do you prepare yours?

[rowlandwells]

we have grew mangels [yellow eckendorf Kings seeds] for a couple of years didn't grow any last year they where common place round here for many years used as cattle feed many fields where sowed with mangel seed then picked out the fields it where a bit labour intensive job all hand loaded but ours turned out very large I gave then to a farmer friend of ours for his sheep but they never touched them maybe we should have chopped them up like they used to do with the old mangel chopper I can remember chucking mangels in the hopper and they came out shredded  but like other things as I said  it was said it was to be to labour intensive 

we still have an old mangel chopper but these days its planted up with `bedding plants it hasn't chopped any mangels up for many years 

[Rob the rake]

I don't, but I remember seeing MWs in seed catalogs when I was a boy. They are a perfectly good vegetable, just a little less picture-perfect compared to other beets. Livestock don't seem to care what they look like. They are a good source of calcium and magnesium.

How do you prepare yours?

More or less the same way as for yellow/white beets. Cubed up, they're a brilliant addition to winter soups and stews, adding a nice crunchy texture to the mix. I like that they don't break down to mush when a stew's re-heated! I like them steamed or boiled as a regular vegetable in a Sunday lunch.

They're one crop which benefits from very regular watering, without which they seem to have a tendency to go stringy, making them useless for anything other than...well, cattle fodder.

[Rob the rake]

 I've ordered a pack of the red variety, so there'll be an update once they've been grown and scoffed.

[Swing Swang]

Interesting topic as am going to sow both red and yellow fodder beet next month to reduce reliance on bought in animal feed, however it looks as though I'm going to have to eat some too. Would be interesting to see if they make a decent country wine as well.

[snowdrops]

Interesting thread thank you, I always thought they were just for animal feed. Do you think chickens would eat them? I discovered this year that my chickens will eat chopped up beetroot’s 

[Rob the rake]

Interesting thread thank you, I always thought they were just for animal feed. Do you think chickens would eat them? I discovered this year that my chickens will eat chopped up beetroot’s 

i don't see why not. They taste much the same as yellow beet and look to be part of the same veg family. one thing's for sure - your girls won't go hungry!

[Goosegirl]

We've been so fed up with swedes that aren't ripe when bought and have absolutely no taste, so have got some Rutabaga American Purple seeds from King's.

[Rob the rake]

  Would be interesting to see if they make a decent country wine as well.

I never got round to making beetroot wine, what with the availability of so many other good ingredients, but it's reputed to be good. I'm guessing here, but lacking the earthiness of a red beet they may make a very nice white.

[ferazop]

mangel wurzel, mangel or sometimes called fodder beet, is something like a cross between a beet and a chard, only the mangelwurzel has a huge root. It's usually grown as animal fodder, but some varieties are yummy for humans too. Last year we grew these for the sheep. techzpod download mobdro