Chioggia Guardsmark

Guardsmark is a cleaned-up commercial strain of Chioggia, the candy-striped beet named for the Italian town near Venice. Fedco traces the underlying heirloom's American cultivation back to the 1840s, a listing by Fearing Burr in 1863, and an offer in Vick's catalogue at 75 cents per pound in 1877. What separates Guardsmark from generic Chioggia seed is the selection work Alf Christianson Seed Company did on the line, breeding for better uniformity and bolt tolerance so a bed sizes up together rather than running to seed unevenly. Johnny's carries it as the highest-quality Chioggia strain available, and Fedco singles out its exceptional sweetness. It is open-pollinated rather than hybrid, so growers can save seed, and it earns its place mainly in specialty and farmers-market sales where the ring pattern is the selling point.