Feuer Kugel

Feuer Kugel is an open-pollinated red table beet from German-speaking Europe whose name translates as "fire ball" or "fire sphere." Sources disagree on its exact home: Restoration Seeds credits Germany, while Triple Divide Organic Seeds describes it as Swiss heritage, so the safest statement is that it is a Central European heirloom. Turtle Tree Seed carries it as certified biodynamic seed, and the Triple Divide strain is maintained by Wild Plum Farm in Dixon, Montana, using root-to-seed selection in which any root showing disease is culled before it goes into winter storage. Growers pick it because it covers two jobs that usually take two varieties: it bunches early with a good top, and the same planting stores through winter. Its defining behaviour is that the roots stay sweet and tender as they size up instead of turning woody, which makes a missed harvest window far less costly than with fast-finishing salad beets.