Badger Flame Beetroot - Variety Spotlight
A sweet beet bred to be eaten raw — and one that has given us quite a seed-growing adventure.
Like a glowing ember, Badger Flame beetroot's vibrant golden flesh brushed with red is so striking, it is fair to assume that that is its most unique characteristic - until you taste it.
"Raw or roasted, it's the most delicious beet I've tasted."
- Dan Barber - Chef, Blue Hill & co-founder of Row 7 Seeds
Many people shy away from beetroot because of the earthy undertones that can taste a little like soil. Badger Flame was bred to change that. Sweet, mild and crisp, it was designed to be eaten raw — something few beetroot can claim.
At the University of Wisconsin, plant breeder Irwin Goldman and colleague Nick Breitbach spent decades working toward that goal. Through many cycles of selection they worked to reduce a compound called geosmin, the molecule responsible for the earthy flavour in beets (and the familiar scent of freshly ploughed soil). Goldman has described plant breeding as “the slowest of the performing arts” — a process that requires patience, persistence, and a willingness to taste hundreds of experimental vegetables in the field.
His motivation was simple. As a breeder who specialised in beetroot, he wanted to create a beet his children would happily eat raw, just like a carrot.
Two decades later, the result is Badger Flame — a beetroot that shines with sweetness and lacks the heavy earthiness of traditional varieties.
Chefs quickly discovered its potential. Thinly sliced, its colours glow on a plate of raw vegetables or in a winter salad. Roasted, its natural sugars deepen and caramelise, creating crisp edges that taste almost like candy.
Beautiful, sweet, and unexpectedly versatile, Badger Flame proves that sometimes the slowest of the performing arts produces something truly remarkable.
Badger Flame Beetroot — why our seed is so limited this year
We began growing Badger Flame in 2018 after Row 7 Seeds released the seed in the United States. It quickly became a favourite in our fields and with our customers - From children to chefs, the praise was as glowing as the beet itself.
When the pandemic halted international shipping in 2020 and closed restaurants in Victoria, we still had over 100 feet of Badger Flame in the field heading into winter. Because beetroot require cold before flowering, we decided to grow the crop for seed instead — and our first harvest sold out quickly.
Producing more seed has proved challenging. We have lost crops to foxes that devoured an entire field in two nights, to rats that burrowed beneath protective netting and quietly ate the roots while leaving the tops looking healthy, and to a cold, wet spring that reduced pollen production and resulted in seed with very low germination.
Each season we refine our approach in the hope of another strong harvest. Our 2027 seed crop is currently being carefully vernalised in the cooler — safely out of reach of our marauding thieves.
This year’s seed harvest was small. More than half has gone to commercial growers, with the remainder available in packets. If you hope to grow Badger Flame in 2026, we recommend purchasing seed now and storing it until sowing time.
We have seed storage tips here.