As a child I was never very keen on beetroot; it was messy and too vinegar tart for my taste. I avoided it for years. But over the last decade I have become reacquainted with it, and now use it in all sorts of interesting ways, both the roots and the leaves. It now rates as one of my three favourite vegetables.

In the first year of the kitchen garden I used plug plants, carefully lining them up in straight rows. I tried the different colour varieties: Bulls Blood (dark red), Burpees Golden (golden), Chioggia (red and white striped) and they were all a success. Taste-wise they range from very earthy to very sweet, and the colours are amazing.

This year I have been more ambitious, devoting a whole raised bed to beetroot, and growing them from seed. I followed Monty Don’s advice on denser planting: you define a row a plank’s width and sprinkle the seed evenly across the length of it without doing any thinning. The result is a lot more beetroot, slightly smaller (between a golf ball and tennis ball sized), but much sweeter.

Beetroot greens are very useful as well. They have more flavour than spinach and hold their shape better, or can be used like any other leafy green. They also retain their lovely colour when cooked.

Cooking beetroot can be messy. They are delicious roasted with a bit of honey, or boiled with a bit of vinegar in the water. Peeling them is easy when they are still warm - I use a pair of gloves and some kitchen roll to just wipe them down firmly, and the skin comes away. You will need to wear an apron.

They can be grated fresh into a summer salad, or use them for juicing. Nigel Slater has a delicious recipe in his “Greenfeast, Spring and Summer” cook book for a beetroot and feta salad with a simple yoghurt dressing . They are good served with a horseradish cream, or made up into a hummus. For the store cupboard I revert to the old bottled in a vinegar method, but using a more subtle pickling mix. The smaller ones I pickle whole.

Next season I will follow James Wong’s advice in ‘Grow for Flavour’ and plant the seeds earlier, from late winter to mid spring. He also recommends planting them in full sun for the best flavour. It is worth a try.