Detroit Dark Red heirloom beets are vegetables that hail from Ontario, Canada, where Mr. Reeves developed them from blood turnips. This globular beet first made its appearance in 1892. However, beets seem to have originated in the Mediterranean region, where people grew them for thousands of years. Later, red beets grew in Germany and Holland, where these vegetables were used as cattle fodder; they were later imported to England for this purpose, but the poor began to raise them for an affordable food source. American colonists later brought red beets to the New World, where they became a commonly enjoyed vegetable both for their roots and their greens.